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Before the 1980s boat trackers dragged craft up the river wearing nothing, not even a smile. Now, for the sake of tourism, they are back in the camera's frame. In the past couple of months I have seen several images of naked boat trackers - and they make me laugh. "These are not real boat trackers," I tell anyone who will listen. "They are imposters. Look at their skin. The buttocks are not sun-tanned, you can't fake that. These poor fellows are probably self-conscious about being naked. It's the extra pay that encourages them to appear in their birthday suits." As far as I know, there have been no real naked boat trackers in China in the past 20 years, and any photos taken during the past decade that claim to be of naked boat trackers are basically just dramatic recreations. Now, I hear, government authorities in Badong, Hubei province, have revived the practice for the pleasure of camera-toting tourists. But at least they do not attempt to pass them off as the real boatmen. I still recall my first impression of the naked boat trackers. It was a set of photographs, not the real men, but they were so striking I simply could not take my eyes off them. There was nothing sexual about the nudity, I didn't know what to think. On reflection, I guess I thought of the images as art and it was only much later that I started asking questions such as: "Why were they naked?" They were poor, but not so lacking in money as to be unable to afford a pair of shorts. | 
