China’s latest social-media storm comes wrapped in hiking boots, protein shakes, and a sprinkle of unintended flirtation. What began as a straightforward tourism service on Mount Emei—one of China’s most sacred peaks—has spiralled into a full-blown national debate about propriety, gender, bodies, and the gig-economy’s talent for inventing ever-stranger jobs. Videos of handsome young “climbing companions” carrying women up steep paths, lifting their backpacks, or massaging their calves have set Douyin ablaze, not least because the interactions often drift into something softer, warmer, and far more intimate than the advertised “mountain assistance.” In a country where public modesty is still expected to perform a delicate little dance with modern pragmatism, the clips were bound to ignite controversy. And ignite they did.
The service originally made perfect sense. Mount Emei’s paths are tough, especially for older visitors or out-of-shape weekend hikers. Local men offered help: steady arms, sure footing, a bit of encouragement. But like all things touched by social media’s alchemy, the offer mutated. The more attractive, muscular, and camera-aware the companions were, the more business they attracted. Fees rose. Outfits tightened. One companion became a minor online celebrity after a video showed him lifting a smiling tourist “bridal-style” over a rocky stretch. Another was filmed kneeling to massage a woman’s legs while she giggled at the camera. When beauty meets commerce on a mountain ridge, the internet takes notice.
Critics insist that this is objectification dressed up as tourism. Many commenters, especially women, argue that the trend reinscribes gender roles: men as strong, women as passive and pampered, with intimacy treated as a purchasable extra. Others worry about safety—these freelancers are not licensed guides, there is no regulation, and if someone slips on wet stone while mid-massage, who is responsible? The tone of worry is tinged with moral anxiety: China has been debating physical boundaries in public life for years, and the spectacle of paid intimacy in broad daylight feels to some like a step in the wrong direction.
Supporters push back with equal energy. They argue that customers—mostly women, but also some elderly or physically limited men—hire companions for practical reasons. A steep climb, a heavy backpack, a creaky knee: it all adds up. Some defenders say the outrage reflects a double standard, noting that carriers and porters have existed across Asia for centuries; the novelty here is simply that these porters are young, handsome, and living in the age of short video. Others point out that the women in the viral clips are consenting adults, and that the gig economy should be allowed to innovate, even in the highlands.
What makes this ‘scandal’ so irresistibly odd is not the behaviour itself, but the theatricality. Many videos feel staged: a dramatic swoop into a man’s arms, a dainty cry of exhaustion, the practised stretch of a leg for a massage. The camera hovers, waiting. The companions now perform two jobs at once: they guide hikers up the mountain, and they feed the bottomless appetite of the internet for content that straddles the line between wholesome and risqué. It is tourism as performance art.
Local authorities, naturally, are considering regulations. Unofficial guides have long been a headache; add quasi-romantic interactions to the mix, and the bureaucratic eyebrows go up. Proposals being floated include restricting physical contact, setting clearer licensing rules, and standardising what counts as “assistance” versus “inappropriate service.” Whether these rules will be enforced—or quietly ignored on the foggy trails of Emei—remains unclear.
Yet beneath the amusement, the episode reveals something real about modern China. People are hungry for connection, novelty, fantasy, and a break from urban stress. They are also negotiating evolving ideas of gender, service, and bodily autonomy. A man carrying a woman up a holy mountain might trigger laughter, judgment, desire, or feminist critique, depending on who’s watching. But it also hints at a society experimenting—sometimes awkwardly—with new forms of labour and intimacy in the age of virality.
For now, Mount Emei’s climbing companions remain folk heroes, eye candy, safety hazards, or symbols of decadence—pick your angle. The scandal may fade, but the videos won’t. In China’s vast ecosystem of trends, this one stands at the crossroads of tourism, morality, and selfie culture. And in that strange mountain mist, everyone seems to find what they’re looking for.
Spicy Auntie reporting from her imaginary mountain retreat—because after seeing these videos of handsome Chinese “climbing companions” carrying women up misty trails and massaging tired calves, even I had to pause my morning ginger tea and whisper: hmm… maybe it’s time for a field trip to Mount Emei. What a world, my darlings. One day we’re fighting governments who legislate our bodies, and the next day we’re giggling at shirtless sherpa-boyfriends offering “assistance” that looks like it wandered straight out of a mildly naughty drama on iQIYI.
Let me be clear: the whole “scandal” is as artificial as a tourist selfie filter. Nobody got hurt, nobody protested, nobody fainted from clutching their pearls too tightly. Women hired men to help them climb. The men happened to be young and attractive. Some videos looked a little… curated. Surprise! We live in 2025, where even street noodles are arranged for maximum lighting. Of course witty, muscular climbers would market themselves with a sprinkle of flirtation. And of course some aunties out there—myself included—would look twice.
But the outrage? Oh, my sweet lotus flowers. It’s a blend of moral panic, gender anxiety, and maybe a little envy disguised as patriotism. Suddenly the internet is full of people shouting about “public decency,” “inappropriate intimacy,” “the dignity of Chinese culture.” Really? Because I’ve seen bachelor-party pranks, drunken subway performances, and government officials doing much worse on camera. Yet harmless leg massages on a holy mountain are what push society to the brink?
Listen: women in Asia are constantly policed—what we wear, whom we date, how we sit, how we breathe. So if a woman wants to pay a fit young man to carry her backpack—or her entire glorious self—up a steep trail, let her. Let all of us. Maybe she’s tired. Maybe she’s flirting. Maybe she’s healing from a breakup. Maybe she’s celebrating turning 50 and still feeling delicious. Or maybe she just wants to enjoy a vacation without spraining her ankles. All valid. All hers.
Do I think it’s silly? Yes, and that’s the charm. Do I think some videos are intentionally titillating? Absolutely. Do I think that’s a problem? Only for those who don’t know how to mind their own business.
Honestly, the only sadness here comes from how quickly joy becomes scandal in our region. We’ve grown allergic to harmless pleasure. But joy is not a crime, darlings. Attraction is not a crime. Being carried by a handsome mountain man—definitely not a crime.
So, ladies: book the ticket. Pack a good sports bra. Support the gig economy. And if a cute climber offers you a hand—or a lift—say yes. We spend too much time fighting the real battles of patriarchy; a little mountain flirting is good for the soul.