Tourist draw needs new pulling power

Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily

But rickshaw pulling is demanding.

Leaning on his seasoned, three-wheeled rickshaw under its traditional scarlet, collapsible hood, Li Yongfu pulled cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit it.

"Another baiban (whiteboard) day," said Li as he exhaled into the hot, humid Beijing summer air. The 58-year-old used the common term in his trade for a day without customers.

Li was the third to join the Houhai Eight, and he is its oldest member. They have built up a reputation for taking customers quickly and safely through one of the most historic areas of the capital.

The stories behind the district's alleyways and hutong come alive as they inform as well as transport their customers.

But time waits for no man, least of all rickshaw pullers, and the demands of the job do not appeal to many, so there has been a dearth of new recruits.

"At best, I can do it for another two years. But that's it," Li said, adding that he sometimes finds it a "bit hard" when two men sit in the back.

"I'm about to turn 60. My buddies are no longer young, either."

Li and the Houhai Eight charge 180 yuan ($29) per person per ride, which lasts about one hour, the highest price in the area. But Li said he earns only 3,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan a month, and that is more than many of his peers, he said.

The company's offer of 5,000 yuan for college graduates, is, in Li's eyes, "too much".

In 2013, college graduates in Beijing earned an average of 4,746 yuan a month, according to a report by zhaopin.com, a job website.

"I've been in this job for more than 10 years. Where is my base salary?" Li said.

Most, if not all, rickshaw employees have no base pay, only commission and tips, Li said. When a whiteboard day hits, they get nothing.

Admittedly, it is not every graduate's idea of a dream job.

"You can pay however much you like, but I'll never pull a rickshaw," said Liu Chunying, 23, who just graduated from Liaoning University in Shenyang as an accounting major.

He came to Beijing for a job.

"My ideal job is in an office," he said. "A college grad like me needs a decent job."