[Faline]

On the banks of the Yellow River, Wei Xinpeng draws on a cigarette as he casts his eye over the murky waters.



The 55-year-old is a boatman here. But he plies a gruesome trade.

For Mr Wei does not look for fish in these waters. Instead, he pulls human bodies out the river, which he then sells back to grieving families.

"I bring dignity to the dead," says Mr Wei.

For the families of the missing, the boatman has become the call of last resort.

Every day, Mr Wei rows out to a temporary footbridge on the river.

It is at this point the bodies can go no further.

Since starting his business seven years ago, Mr Wei says he has collected about 500 bodies.

Some of them have been murdered, while others have drowned or committed suicide.


Mr Wei says he charges relatives up to $500 if they want to take the body home


"I feel that these people have passed away in a very cruel way," he says.

After the boatman collects the bodies he puts them in a small cove where they are sheltered from the currents.

When I visit, there are four clay-like bodies lying face down in the water.

Mr Wei then places advertisements in local newspapers describing the bodies.

Families of the missing phone him and some travel to his village in order to inspect the bodies.

Mr Wei takes them out on his boat to the cove and flips over the corpses.

He charges them a small fee to look at their faces.

And then up to $500 if they want to take the body home.

Mr Wei lives in a hut close to the Yellow River


He says that he has sold about 40 corpses. Generally, he says, the families are not angry when he asks for money.

But when he found the body of a Communist official the authorities wanted it returned for free. That caused an argument, he says.

Sometime people's emotions are strained when they see the corpses.

"One time parents came looking for their son," he says. "They saw his body and then walked away without saying a word. They didn't take his corpse."

Mr Wei defends what he does. He says the authorities would let the bodies rot in the river.

Sometimes he fishes corpses out of the river and gives them a proper burial.

But it is not just about the money. The boatman says it is also personal.

"My own child died in this river and I could not find the body," he says.

"It was very painful. That's why I started doing this job."

[brushdaft]

Fair play to the guy, he's earning a bit of cash and the families get the chance to get a loved ones body back.

[cardsharksam]

a hard way to make money

[güttsfükk]

that's one crazy old man

[prax22a]

So, they don't do any criminal investigations or autopsies?

[NurseBettie]

Sad, and smelly job....cool story

[Bastet]

He's an inventive man, to say the least. Cool post

[MrCorpse]

Originally Posted by prax22a ↗

So, they don't do any criminal investigations or autopsies?

It's China... there's 1.3 billion of them... they don't give a fucking toss.

[shoottokill]

no one will fish for him when he's gone