On March 26, the cooling temperature in Beijing brought rain showers in the morning. Even then, Zhao Rui, a delivery staff for fresh goods, started her work on time. Every day, she delivers around 70 orders of goods to residential areas in Fengtai District.

Zhao is a 41-year-old local resident and the only female delivery staff at her work place. She used to be engaged in tourism, which has suffered a lot since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). During the outbreak, the streets of Beijing were almost empty, with only couriers traveling around to serve residents. That inspired Zhao to set foot in the business.

In early February, she became a delivery staff. After getting the body temperature checked and wearing mask and gloves, she would begin her daily routine at 7 a.m. In those days, the pandemic was severe and lots of people were in self-quarantine or chose to stay at home, so they relied heavily on e-commerce platforms for the supply of daily necessities. Zhao learnt the work quickly and familiarized herself with the roads and neighborhoods of the distribution areas. She and her colleagues would deliver more than 100 orders a day on average.

According to Zhao, the rapid development of online grocery and delivery during the outbreak has attracted more “competitors”. Although the epidemic has been brought under control, many traditional supermarkets are planning to adopt the new business model, offering more job opportunities for delivery personnel like Zhao.

(Photos by Wei Yao)