'The rats ran around and it smelled like hell. The first week was unbearable'

In the local dialect of Chongqing, porters with ropes and bamboo poles are called bang bang. They are a distinctive group known for helping residents carry heavy items in the mountainous port city along the Yangtze River.

He Changlin, 39, a former lieutenant colonel, dreamed of making a documentary about the bang bang. A former TV producer in the Chongqing Garrison Command, it was his first project after retiring from the People's Liberation Army.