China excavator driver paints digger in pink Hello Kitty style ‘to satisfy girlish heart’
Woman dubbed ‘Excavator Empress’ says garish construction vehicle takes monotony out of ‘extremely boring’ job; brings ‘romance’ to work
A digger operator in China who painted her vehicle bright pink and adorned it with Hello Kitty decorations has turned heads on a construction site.
The 35-year-old woman, surnamed Zhang, from Heze in Shandong province, northern China, is known online as the “Excavator Empress” and has amassed more than 23,000 followers online.
Zhang began learning to operate excavators in 2019. She said she did not do so willingly, but was “forced into it by life”, joking that her husband had “tricked her” into the trade.
Despite working in a domain considered tough, Zhang said she considers herself a “girlie girl”, and loves the colour pink.
“If women are going to drive excavators, why not make them look like a woman is driving it?” she said. “I love pink, so I had this pink excavator custom-made.”