Couriers in frosty E China receive heartwarming orders

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A snowy day could be a view for some, but for couriers, it is another day for work, or worse.

Over 700 couriers from east China's Hangzhou City received special food delivery orders from customers last weekend, when the first snow of this year swept the city.

The orders for hot beverages and food were specially placed by customers for couriers who were still working in the cold weather.

"Instead of delivering it to me, please give it to the courier who comes for the order. It is a small gift to hopefully keep him warm," said a note left by a customer while ordering online to the owner of a congee restaurant.

Thinking it was the last food delivery of the day, Liu Zhixiong was surprised to find that the order was a gift for himself, who had ridden his motorbike to work in the cold, snowy night. "It is heartwarming on a cold day like this," he said.

Moved by the customer's actions, the restaurant owner prepared congee and snacks for all couriers who later came for orders that night.

A delivery man in Hangzhou working in the snow. /Photo via VCG

According to an employee working for a food delivery platform, over 700 customers in Hangzhou placed such orders for couriers who came for orders, hoping to keep them warm and to thank them for working in the cold weather. Over 2,000 customers left messages to couriers, wishing them safety instead of being on time.

As the snow plummeted the city's temperature to about 0 degree Celsius, food delivery orders had increased by over 25 percent. Some delivery platforms also temporarily lifted time limits for couriers and made compensations for deliveries in such weather.

According to a report on couriers released in May by Meituan, one of the major online delivery platforms in China, 82 percent of the app's couriers were born in the 1980s and 1990s, and 75 percent of the couriers come from rural areas.