China News Service, Shaoxing, March 30 (Xiang Jing) Recently, the East Lake Scenic Area in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province is recruiting awning boat captains (commonly known locally as "ship bosses") from all over the country with an "annual salary of 100,000", which has attracted the attention of netizens. It is understood that the local area has been recruiting "ship bosses" for many years, but this is the first time that it has put forward new age requirements for applicants - 35 years old and below.
In February this year, on a water area in Shaoxing, a "boat boss" took tourists on a black-topped boat. Photo by Xiang Jing
Shaoxing's water network is criss-crossed, with a lot of water, bridges and boats. The awning boat, which is rowed with both hands and feet, is a unique water vehicle. With the evolution of the times, awning boats gradually faded out of people's life circles, and became active in major cultural and tourist attractions, becoming a unique cultural symbol of Jiangnan water towns.
However, with the increasing number of tourists experiencing the awning boat, the number of boatmen is small and older, which has brought challenges to the operation of the awning boat. Take East Lake, which is surrounded by mountains and rivers, as an example. Among the more than 40 awning boat crew members in East Lake, 20 are 60 years old or above, accounting for nearly half.
Looking at the data in 2023, the number of East Lake awning boats will exceed 400,000. There are also many netizens who "complained" on social platforms - "queuing time starts at 1 hour" and "it's hard to get a boat."
In order to solve the urgent need, the local government recently issued an urgent "Recruitment of Wupeng Boat Captains in East Lake Scenic Area" information, hoping to recruit 20 captains, and the first "hard" condition is that they are 35 years old and below. At the same time, it is mentioned that the age can be relaxed appropriately for those with English, opera and other related expertise.
This "recruitment" is different from the past. It requires the captain to have an education level of high school or above. After passing the training and assessment, the annual salary will be about 100,000 yuan (including five insurances). It also requires that the captain can "be able to speak Mandarin" and "be able to swim." "Those who can row" will be given priority.
It is understood that East Lake has also recruited young boatmen, but due to various reasons, they have left their jobs one after another, making it difficult to maintain a stable inheritance.
When interviewed, local staff said that after the recruitment information was released, young people called for consultation almost every day. “We hope to attract more young people to join the rowing team by increasing the salary of boat bosses, solve the aging problem, and explore Wupeng boat cultural inheritance and sustainable industrial development." (over)