Girl Power vs. the Bang Bang Men

Girls here don't carry their own stuff. I often get looks of shock that I am prepared to carry my own groceries, household goods, luggage etc. Sometimes it makes me feel like an Amazonian freak; not only am I a good half foot taller than most women around me, I also lift and carry heavy things all alone! It's very '1850's in Atlanta' here sometimes.

There are men you can pay to carry heavy things for you, the 'bang bang men.' ('Bang' means 'help' in Mandarin.) They hang out near the store registers and exits waiting for people who look like they need help, or who look like they will pay for help. I'm a girl and (in their eyes) a wealthy foreigner, so every time I got to the store I get targeted by a bang bang man. And at the train station. And the bus station. It gets very old.

But it also makes me feel happy to have a chance to show Chinese girls it IS possible to be self-sufficient and do things for yourself, without the bang bang men. I'm trying to use my inability to disappear into the crowd for good. It's the only thing that makes it bearable.