New Culture, August 19, 2009

Note:

So it's not clear what drugs are actually being ingested by the truck drivers, but it's most likely that various types of amphetamines and their relatives including 'ice' or herbal and synthetic ephedra are part of the normal mix.

July 16th, 11: 27 in Wutai County, Shanxi Province:

The truck with a number plate from Inner Mongolia, slows down and came to a stop. The driver Zhao San, who has spent the last 24 hours on the road, is exhausted. This is the sixth traffic jam he's been in since he set off.

About fifteen minutes later, Zhao borrows an electric soldering iron from another driver and starts his daily routine. He takes out the ANK and rolls it up with a brand new 20 yuan bill. Then he opens the truck's hood and hooks up the soldering iron to the battery. After a minute, Zhao puts the red hot iron on the white powder and a thick white smoke rises.

Zhao puts the 20 yuan bill under his nose and took a long deep breath. After sniffing it several times, Zhao's once fatigued-looking face looks refreshed. He joins the other driver in the cockpit, laughing over some jokes, and then takes another joyful inhale.

Zhao had been driving for about 12 hours, ANK is what keeps his energy level high; he might have killed himself because of fatigue if he did not smoke the ANK.

For years, Zhao has driven ten plus hours continuously every day. Among the drivers that he knows, over 90% use ANK. There are over 30,000 drivers driving on Route 108, an inter-provincial national route which connects China's four major coal producing provinces. The drivers are as used to bad traffic conditions as they are to the effects of ANK.

Zhao drives a 300 horse power truck with a trailer with a licensed payload of 30 tons, but on most assignments, he transports 55 tons of coal.

For many years, Zhao's driving route has been fixed: Starting from Fugu, north Shaanxi, he goes through Baode, Baoqu, Shenchi, Wuzhai and other counties in Shanxi, and then either through Wutai County or Fanzhi County, and on to his destination Fuping County in Hebei Province where he unloads the coal.

The trip is over 500 kilometers long.The route goes through three provinces.

It usually takes three days for Zhao and whoever comes along for the ride as back-up driver to deliver a load of coal and rerturn to Fugu.

Traffic jams sometimes make the journey last much longer.

This time, Zhao was in charge of uploading coal while his driving partner had to take the wheel. He should have had three extra hours of sleep when he did not have to drive, but the road is so bumpy that he wakes up from time to time.

"I have become accustomed to this kind of sleepless sleep", said Zhao. It is the ANK that keeps him awake and alert:

"You won't feel sleepy for over ten hours after one dose. I take at least five every trip."

"You won't become a drug addict by smoking ANK, it is just like cigarettes," Li Hai explains.

Li, 18 years old, has already been driving trucks for three years. Like Chen, he is also an ANK user. For the villagers living along Route 108, the truck drivers' use of the drug is no longer a secret.

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Truck driver Zhao San is from Jianshan village in Jiuxian Township.

Jianshan village is in Shaanxi Province, near the border with Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, so coal transportation is a lucrative local industry. Among a total of about 600 villagers, 40 peri-urban sprawl around Jianshan.

This "transportation township" area prospers because of Coal Route 108. According to the "information releases", coal depots in this area handle over 160 million tons of coal, which turns a profit of about five billion yuan a year.

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The drug Zhao uses costs 20 yuan a pop.

20 yuan buys a 2 centimeter long white cylinder, enough for five to six days. The really good stuff costs 25 to 30 yuan a cylinder.

According a driver from Fuguo, the best ANK is from Fugu, Shaanxi Province. Though almost all the small stores around the coal mines provide it, he always buys from a small store which sells "premium ANK".

During a crackdown in June, thousands of ANK tablets were seized by the police in one store alone.

ANK isn't strong enough for some drivers.

Starting five years ago, some drivers began using home-made "heroin" or "liaozi" as locals call it.

According to Zhao San, "It's much better than the ANK, one bag will keep you alert for a whole day and night."

As the drug dealers' technical skills mature, the truck drivers have more and more choices.

In 2008, a drug lab was busted by Xinzhou police; seized drugs include heroin in paste, liquid and other froms.

According to a police officer in Xinzhou, over 20% of truck drivers in the area use heroin while truck driver Zhao's estimate is one third.

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The best place to get heroin is Yangmingpu, sometimes called "drivers' paradise".

In Yangmingp, almost every restaurant has prostitutes and drugs.

"It's like buying a pack of cigarettes."

Yangmingpu has a tradition of growing opium. Despite many harsh crackdowns, the habit of using opium persists. In the nearby Guangwu village, every time the truck owners see off their drivers, they buy some Pianpian (a cheap opium product) for them.

Shentangpu is famous for the heroin it produces. The heroin is packaged in small newspaper wraps of one centimeter by half a centimeter. The red powder, which is made of opium and acetic acid, is sold for 1,400 yuan per gram.

Merchants adulterate the heroin with codeine and sell them for 50 to 100 yuan per pack. For drivers who have developed tolerance to ANK, this is another acceptable choice.