The Power of China's Logistics Speed

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HAN PENG SHANGHAI "Spring Festival is not a holiday, but a rush hour for fast delivery folks, as many people like me are having a spending spree — online. Today, my order is some authentic Sichuan hotpot condiment for a big party which will happen in less than 48 hours."

The Chinese hotpot is one of most fitting meals to have a holiday get together.

YANG CHENGXI CHENGDU "And what better place can we get that original spicy flavor than Chengdu, the birthplace of the hot pot."

Many major hotpot brands are now on China's e-commerce websites to sell condiments across the country, and they are not resting for the Spring Festival. As Han Peng placed his orders, the goods are being packaged and handed over to deliverymen who are also working round the clock.

According to China's State Post Bureau, the country's top 10 logistics companies had an average domestic delivery time of 56 hours. Mailing between major cities can take even shorter time.

YANG CHENGXI SHANGHAI "Then the parcel gets sent to a dispatch center like this one. This is a place where over a million packages a day get sorted and when online shopping seasons come, it can process up to 7 million per day."

This one in the outskirts of Shanghai, which belongs to the company ZTO, has been in operation since late 2015. Operating for 20 hours a day, this is one of the most efficient logistics systems in the world.

The packages are placed on these conveyer belts that move 2 meters per second, and the computer controlled bar code scanner blinks six times per second, which manages to determine the destination of each package.

ZTO, being one of the biggest logistics firms in China has 79 of these dispatch centers across the country.

Han: "Arriving with the Sichuan hotpot is my colleague Yang Chengxi. Chengxi, How do you feel chasing a parcel from over 1,000 miles away?"

Yang: "It was exhausting. I mean our camera crew could barely keep up with how fast the package was going.

Han: "Exactly, we can imagine that. But the fast delivery service has made it possible for everyone to have a huge market where you can buy whatever you want from all over the country right in your home. Yang Chengxi and Han Peng, CGTN, from Chengdu to Shanghai."