Xiao Ying:

46-year- old Mail Sorter

The fast development of the online retail industry has made work for China Post’s mail sorters increasingly busy. Workers scan a code on every parcel and sort them into different carts. The work seems endless as new parcels continue dropping onto the conveyor belt.

Xiao Ying has worked as a mail sorter for 27 years. She personally witnessed the explosive growth of express delivery volume from the mail sorting frontlines. “Especially during the Double 11 online shopping festival, everyone starts buying more and more stuff, and all kinds of parcels swarm from different countries and regions,” she said.

Parcel sorting work normally starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until 8 p.m. During special periods like the Double 11, most employees work overtime. “Other than my lunch break, my only chance to catch a breath is between the parcels loading and unloading,”

Xiao said. “When the parcels on the conveyor belt are all processed and the new batch hasn’t yet reached the chute, I get a break.”

Recent cooperation between manual work and automatic equipment has continuously improved the efficiency of express processing and delivery. Someone else offers the final drop- off service, but behind every parcel delivered is the hard work of people like Xiao.

“When the parcels on the conveyor belt are all processed and the new batch hasn’t yet reached the chute, I get a break.”