Laborer lifts heavy loads to build better life

Deng Shufang has worked on Emei Mountain in Sichuan province since last year. Photo By Li Xinfeng / For China Daily

In quest to support son, mother carries materials weighing 100 kg to the peak of Emei Mountain a dozen times a day

Empty-handed tourists find it challenging to trek the mountain path from the Jieyindian cable car station to the Golden Summit of Emei Mountain in Sichuan province.

The station and summit are 2,540 and 3,077 meters above sea level respectively.

However, Deng Shufang, 42, has to carry building materials such as cement, sand, steel and bricks from the station to the summit 12 times a day.

Each trip, she carries a bamboo basket with 100 kilograms of building materials on her back, earning 24 yuan ($3.50).

Deng, a farmer in Huatou town in Jiajiang county, Sichuan, used to plant tea and crops, and could carry between 50 and 100 kg of grain in one go.

Because of her strength, a fellow villager introduced her to Emei Mountain in the second half of last year when a mammoth reconstruction project started at the summit.

The project, scheduled to be completed in 2019, will involve the building of a hall of the Goddess of Mercy, known as Guanyin in Chinese. A large amount of building materials have to be carried to the summit, said Wu Jian, a member of the administrative committee of Emei Mountain.

Before his recent retirement, Wu was an information officer with the committee.

After building materials are transported to the Jieyindian cable car station, they have to be taken another 1 km to the site of the reconstruction project on the summit.

Deng uses a cane to prop up the load she is carrying while taking a short break on the mountain path. Photo By Li Xinfeng / For China Daily