The drivers of horse-driven carts, commonly known as carters, were considered people of capability and knowledge in the countryside. This is party because the harnessing, loading, driving and repairing of a cart were difficult and very demanding in skills when it was driven by three or four horses, and partly because the carters traveled to different places all year round, accumulating rich experience and knowledge, which helped them win the trust from villagers.

The carters, usually aged 30-50, had to learn at the very beginning how to load a cart, and it would take one or two years to be an independent carter, and still more to become a experienced one that could cope with various road and weather conditions. Some of them drove carts of their own, and some were hired to drive others' carts. The latter made little money, but kept the driver occupies all day yearlong, so it was a rather hard job.

Since horse-driven carts played the major role in folk transportation, cart inns, which were hotels specialized in taking in line-haul carts, appeared in the wake. Such inns were normally located near the major lines of communication or in the vicinity of big towns, and there was one every five or ten kilometers, providing good places for drivers to have a rest.

The rooms of cart inns were mostly spacious, with two adobe beds right opposite each other in each room, which could house ten or even dozens of people for a low price. Though considered the lowest-grade hotels, the cart inns still require large area of usable land to insure that carts and horses were properly arranged. The cart drivers, hungry and sleepy after a day of fatiguing travel, usually fell sound asleep after eating and washing in the inn. Upon daybreak, they would set off on the road again.

Though in most cases, these drivers stayed for only a night, but they would return if they were satisfied with the service and if they felt their cargo and horse were safe within the inn. Sometime they would recommend it to other drivers. Once accustomed to an inn, some drivers would rather travel a longer trip than stay in an unfamiliar inn, and teams of five to eight carts could be frequently seen. Therefore, a well-operated inn was likely to have brisk business. Cart inns also gave rise to other business in the neighborhood, such as restaurants and grocery stores, and sometimes cigarette vendors would come to the inn for a sale.

Though cart inns could not be hailed as comfortable or elegant, they were actually indispensable homes for the carters in old Northeast China.

Author: Jessie

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