All commuters hail Beijing’s unofficial ferryman
Rising housing prices are driving more working Beijingers farther into the outskirts.
However, people in the commuter town of Yanjiao are shaving time off their hours- long schleps to the capital thanks to an enterprising local and his makeshift ferry.
Li Lian operates a cable ferry that shuttles cars across Chaobai River, which separates East Beijing’s Tongzhou district from surrounding Hebei Province.
One by one, the 69- year- old Li pulls cars, motorbikes and people across the 50- meter ferry point on his plank- covered vessel.
A 90- second trip across the river potentially saves commuters hours on the road.
“It’s 10 yuan, but it’s not crowded, it’s a shortcut and you can avoid rush hour traffic. It’s perfect for drivers who need to get to Beijing fast,” commuter Wang Bin told Beijing Youth Daily.
Though Li has been operating the ferry at Dianzi village for years, he says business is booming as Beijing’s main arteries continue to clog at bottleneck points along the city’s borders.
“Business started picking up about five years ago, with more and more drivers looking to get across,” Li told the Beijing Youth Daily.
Li deals in volume, explaining he’ll ferry as many as 80 cars across a day.
By charging 1 yuan ($ 0.16) per person, 2 yuan for a motorbike, and 10 yuan for a car, he stands to make up to 3,000 yuan a month.
“I charge based on how hard I have to pull,” Li said. “If I’ve got to pull a car across, that’s gonna be a lot of work.”