FAREWELL TO THE FERRYMAN

Loyalty to the job and villagers has kept Fan Xiandi on boat despite tough work conditions

On a hazy winter morning, Fan Xiandi untied the docking lines of a ferry, plunged a pole into the water and shoved the boat off the dock. The 53-year-old is one of the disappearing ferrymen in China.

This is Fan's 32nd year ferrying villagers across the winding Nanpu creek in East China's Fujian province, and also the last year of his boating life.