Would you be willing to give a total stranger all of your possessions, let alone pay him for it? What sounds like the last thing you'd want to do in China is actually a thriving cottage industry right here in Beijing.

Due to a longstanding ban on personal items that include cell phones and handbags for visitors to the US Embassy, street hawkers have been earning a living by temporarily holding onto other people's possessions as they wait in line to process non-immigrant visas.

Charging between 20 and 30 yuan per bag, the hawkers have again aroused public interest as Chinese news reports describe how the mostly uneducated bag holders make anywhere between 6,000 and 7,000 yuan per month, insisting their fees aren't expensive for "people traveling abroad."

The bag holding-hawkers insist their services can be trusted with the luxury handbags that some US visa applicants have brought with them..

"I've held onto bags worth tens of thousands of yuan as many as 10 at a time. To me, they're just sacks of burlap that contain things," said bag holder Wang Li.

Wang said the embassy's video surveillance keeps all of the bag holders honest. "We depend on this service for our livelihood. Stealing is a crime, and it would also mean the end of a source of income."

However, the ethics of bag holders aren't so clearly drawn when it comes to petty larceny.

"Other hawkers will change prices on the customer," said two-year bag holder Li Fang. "For example, say you want to store two bags, so they'll name a price of 30 yuan. But after you come out, they'll raise the price to 100 yuan."

Attempting to gain the trust of their customers, some bag holders have published their personal information on signs and cards to make them public knowledge. Zhou Wenfang, an 80-year-old local resident, advertises herself as a Beijinger as a way to appease worried visa applicants.

And although they've been called "human flesh storage lockers" by the Chinese press, the bag holders have proven themselves to be a valuable resource for Chinese hoping to travel to the USA. Besides making photocopies and head shots, bag holders also provide visa consultation services.

Making a living outside the law
The bag holders are referred to by the Chinese media as a jiānghú (江湖), a sub-set of society that operates outside traditional lines of authority. Usually negatively associated with the criminal underworld or unlicensed doctors, a jianghu is a self-contained group by which its members live by their own code.

One unidentified female bag holder admitted that her husband had been arrested for a confrontation with another bag holder. "After someone tried to steal his business, he got angry and pressed a knife against this other person's neck," she explained. "He just wanted to scare him, he wasn't going to do anything rash."

Following an internal set of rules is important for the bag holders because the job is technically illegal in Beijing. Maizidian chengguan (city management authorities) say the practice is an ongoing problem due to the "persistent need" for bag holders due to the US Embassy's security restrictions, and have promised to crackdown on the practice that dates back to at least 2007.

Despite the hazy morality of these bag holders that operate outside the law, local authorities can attest to the trustworthiness of this budding cottage industry. According to the Maizidian police, no one has ever reported a theft involving an embassy bag holder.

At present, the US Embassy in Beijing forbids visitors from bringing in such items as cellphones, computers, electronic readers, cameras, and handbags. The embassy has said it will not store these prohibited items for visitors.

Images: BJNews.com.cn, Jiemian.com

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