Faço entregas em Pequim

by Hu Anyan, Amilton Reis (Translator)

Novo fenômeno internacional da literatura contemporânea chinesa, Hu Anyan apresenta um relato sincero e bem-humorado sobre a realidade do trabalhador no século XXI.


Quando um amigo sugeriu que Hu Anyan escrevesse sobre as suas experiências em empregos informais ou pouco especializados em diversas cidades da China, ele achou que a tarefa estaria em melhores mãos se fosse conduzida por um jornalista. Mas este livro é a prova de que a visão de um observador externo jamais seria tão sensível quanto a de um trabalhador que vivenciou aquela rotina por tantos anos.


Noites tão quentes que era possível beber três litros de água sem precisar ir ao banheiro; dias buscando apartamentos com climatização adequada; tarefas repetitivas que comprometiam a saúde das unhas das mãos; poucos momentos de descanso, ocupados por cálculos de qual seria a quantidade ideal de álcool necessária para fazer a pessoa dormir sem acordar de ressaca no dia seguinte. Ao retratar suas impressões, o autor desenha com riqueza de detalhes a imagem de uma geração ­— de uma classe — desiludida com a precarização do mercado de trabalho, a pressão social e a busca por sentido sem cair na armadilha da autopiedade, encontrando profundidade no cotidiano em meio a uma rotina de exploração e dificuldades financeiras enquanto busca não perder a sua identidade.


De empresas de logística em Xangai a entrega de encomendas em Pequim, passando por trabalhos administrativos diversos em shoppings, pequenos comércios e empresas de comunicação, Hu procurou saídas sempre que se via preso a um emprego sem perspectivas, voltando-se para a literatura e a escrita sempre que precisava de força e companhia.


Faço entregas em Pequim traz uma perspectiva marginal, única, direta e surpreendentemente bem-humorada para compreender a vida de um trabalhador do século XXI.


“Um dos novos talentos literários mais notáveis da China.” — Edward White, Financial Times

Genres: Nonfiction, China, Memoir, Biography, Asia, Contemporary, Biography Memoir

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2023

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it is the living vicariously, or seeing what else is out there, but I do have an interest in reading about people’s work, even fictional accounts. So when this book came along it piqued my interest.

The content is a complete account of the different jobs Hu Anyan had until the writing of this book. He goes into the most detail while describing the package delivery job and working at a bike shop.

As the book continues Anyan discusses his internal life more, along with his social anxiety and difficulty with communicating with people. Often the job posed problems for him having these difficulties, such as when he was trying to run a business. He had a little shop and when purchasing from his wholesalers it was expected to negotiate pricing but he just accepted whatever they told him. Then he felt he lost face when realized what was going on and could not continue dealing with the same people.

One aspect of this book that I found interesting was the work culture in China. Just for one example, as a worker in the United States I am used to a 5 day/40 hour work week, but in China 6 days a week with 10-12 hours per day is expected. Anyan had some jobs were those hours were extended longer and not compensated for the extra time. Overtime pay wasn’t mentioned, likely something that doesn’t exist in China.

The writing style was fairly basic and since it is a translation it’s hard to determine if it’s from the original author or the translator. There were some clichés used that did not help and just made the writing feel awkward. It took me a while to read this book, as there wasn’t anything compelling to propel the story forward.


Thanks to Astra Publishing House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

[Chip Huyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe everyone who's ever ordered something online and waited for it delivered to them should read this book to understand what it's like to work in this economy.

The writing is analytical and detached. The author describes the dehumanizing working conditions as facts without laboring the point. He goes into a list of gig jobs he's done. Because the working conditions of these many jobs are quite similar, the book can feel a bit repetitive after a while.

What surprises me is the literary depth of the memoir. Perhaps it's my own bias, but I didn't expect it to have such a detailed analysis of Virginia Woolf or quoting E.H. Gombrich's "There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists."

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the audiobook for review.

A bit of a difftent memoir for me as it's about work life and the culture around it. I tought the translation seemed okay and the narration was easy to listen to. It felt both very personal as well as informative. 4 stars really liked it altough the work situations is awful and not healthy, I liked hearing about what the author had to say.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

虽然书名起的是在北京送快递，但作者的快递工作在他的打工生涯里只是短短一个片段。即使从事的多是以提供劳力为主的服务行业，作者敏锐地观察并积极思考着无产阶级打工者和其工作的关系，其中包括劳资关系，管理层的管理水平，职场人际，客户管理，工作对人的异化，等等。无论是蓝领还是白领，天下打工人同是天涯沦落人。无论在工作里是否能实现自我价值，生命的丰富度是无法用八小时定义的。正如作者的经历，读书写作与思考让他的人生比很多人都有厚度。

[The Reading Lantern · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative glimpse into gig work in a changing economy, living in the in-between where labour laws are nowhere to be seen. The writing is really simple, which makes it a quick read, but sometimes I do wish it had gone a bit further to add a little depth at times. I also wish that the author had a little more to say about the larger frameworks that create and profit from inhumane working conditions.

Overall, really interesting and worth a read but the writing (in the English translation at least) can be a bit clunky, making it an awkward read despite how simple it is.

[Alice YC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chronicle of working class life under China's particular form of capitalism - written with astonishing clarity and skill. Can't wait for the English translation if it's not a bestseller I shall be very disappointed in this world

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich mochte vor allem, dass es nur um die genaue Beschreibung der Arbeit geht und nicht nur darum, an diesem konkreten Geschehen entlang was ganz anderes zu erzählen. Außerdem fand ich den Autor sympathisch (so hätte Bukowski über seine Arbeit geschrieben*, wenn er ein netter Mensch gewesen wäre), und ich mochte seine Beschreibung der Verhältnisse, die gerade nicht für ahnungslose Leute wie mich gemacht ist, sondern halt für ein chinesisches Publikum.

* Naja, vielleicht. Es ist Jahrzehnte her, dass ich da reingeschaut habe.

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘I was born in Guangzhou, and had worked in Shanghai and done business in Nanning, the provincial capital of Guangxi—in March 2018—moved to Beijing. There, I delivered parcels—.’

Usually I don't (feel inclined/feel it's appropriate to) rate 'memoirs', personal writings, etc. but this is an exception because I think everyone and anyone should give this a go, and a full five star rating is just a little 'push' with regards to that (even though the translation is a bit weak (but still grateful for it because I wouldn't be able to get through the original/Chinese text as quickly as I did with this)) . I read the English translation alongside the original/Chinese text - which is fab (for me) because whenever the text in translation sat not-quite-right with me, I had the privilege to read the 'original' text and be like 'oh right, so this was they meant/was trying to convey'.

Anyway, the writer, Hu Anyan really, really loves Virginia Woolf, and that is a big surprise to me (a bit shamefully, confessedly - because me being surprised only means that I am oblivious to/ignorant of or rather too easily forgetting (to put in the simplest sense even though somewhat inaccurately) how well-read (in relation to 'foreign' or more accurately 'literature in translation' - so much so that I have come to believe that maybe (the problem is that) it is 'Anglophone' readers who don't read enough text/literature in translation) people outside of the 'Anglophone' sphere(s) are). Fuller 'review' to come later, but for now this :

‘The piece I read for my friends that day seems to me an ideal way to end—I chose to share some prose from Virginia Woolf’s The Common Reader. Woolf appears to have loved reading biographies, many of them about famous figures but also some about more ordinary folk. This piece was her response to the Memoirs of Mrs. Pilkington.

I couldn’t find any information about the book itself online. Maybe the author really was that unknown. Mrs. Pilkington—or rather Ms. Laetitia, since Pilkington abandoned her—was from a declining aristocratic family in eighteenth-century Britain. She was born around half a century before Jane Austen. An educated woman, she inherited no wealth and was deserted by her husband to raise their two children alone. She made her living writing, which explains the memoirs, but her bread and butter were stories about the underbelly of the upper classes. She claimed she would write anything for money, so it is no surprise that her work hasn’t really endured. If it hadn’t been for Woolf, I would never have known she existed. This great-granddaughter of the Earl of Kilmallock, who lodged alongside the footmen and laundresses of the dukes she once mixed with, would eventually end up in jail for rent arrears. And yet this barely scratches the surface of her many “wanderings”—or “failings.”

Laetitia prayed (only to find herself locked in Westminster Abbey by mistake), begged (and was humiliated, at least that’s how she saw it), contemplated suicide—twice. But she also possessed an immense passion for life; she loved and hated with unrelenting ferocity. She viciously cursed out anyone who hurt her and made mockeries of them in her scurrilous stories (taking creative license where it pleased her); and this very same woman cherished the meal of plover’s eggs she once shared with her tutor, and every wink of sleep she managed in spite of buzzing mayflies.

She was both emotional and thick-skinned, it seems. She had a natural, dramatic flair to her feelings and, in her writing, an instinct to “give pleasure,” which cast the hardship she suffered less as a cruel fate and more like a tragicomedy fit for the stage. Her resilience brought her back from adversity on repeated occasions, so she could throw herself once more into life with all her signature brio intact—her infectious love and hate as strong as ever. A lady of refinement, with a salty side, she was both compassionate and vengeful. The first time I read this portrait of her, I was moved to tears. Woolf concludes it with these words:

“All had been bitterness and struggle, except that she had loved Shakespeare, known Swift, and kept through all the shifts and shades of an adventurous career a gay spirit, something of a lady’s breeding, and the gallantry which, at the end of her short life, led her to crack her joke and enjoy her duck with death at her heart and duns at her pillow.”
(Virginia Woolf, The Common Reader [Harcourt, Brace and company, 1925], 175)

Love amidst despair—this is the light that illuminates life. Though her social status declined, her spirit remained noble and pure. Here, I want to pay tribute to Ms. Laetitia, whose own story has comforted and touched me, and lifted me in times I’ve felt lost. I dedicate this to her many “failings, which were great.”’

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the writing a bit dry but still enjoyed this, especially the first half which describes the author's experience working as a delivery courier in Beijing. The second half was not as interesting though

[Elena L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ 3.5/5 stars ]

This is the memoir of Hu Anyan, a Chinese writer who ventured into many gig work.

As a gig worker in several odd jobs, from night shift worker to selling popsicles, one follows Anyan's challenges and social anxiety being a people-pleasing person. This book is informative about the often dehumanizing nature of work system, with insane workload while the worker deals with dishonesty, unfairness and bureaucracy.

Like the title indicates, most of the pages is about his job as a parcel handler, and the author's experiences feel like refreshing. Anyan dissects the concept of work, delivering the different kinds of hard work in an environment filled with messy relationships. By examining the mutant relationship between labor and creativity, one can see the way life experiences shaped the author's future artistic works.

My small complaint is that the middle feels a bit repetitive, yet, it gets more interesting as we dive into the creative work and publishing, which I also enjoyed the later reflections. With plain language and quite scattered, this book reads fast and I would have liked to see a more in-depth look on his writing journey.

I DELIVER PARCELS IN BEIJING (tr. Jack Hargreaves) is a candid memoir that echoes capitalism and work; and I found it unique.

[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Astra House books . All thoughts are my own ]

[Xiyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10。
也许是很有现实意义的一本书，但是在我眼里这更是一本牢骚满腹的私人日记，如果少点牢骚、用更 tactful 的方式来讲述故事也许会更深刻吧。

[Bloss ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this for its snapshot into toxic job culture and how that manifests in China. This isn't an easy read, but I found it so interesting. This was everything I wanted No Such Thing As An Easy Job to have been!

I'm not convinced that the decision to tell Anyan's story out of order was the right one. I got a bit turned around timeline-wise a few times. But, what bothered me the most was realizing that while Anyan had incredible self-awareness and perspective at times, he kept making the strangest people-pleasing/internalized capitalist decisions in the courier jobs (that came after the later chapters). He kept saying he changed and that he wasn't such a pushover anymore, but I didn't see much evidence of that in his actions. I liked Anyan as a character. He was so easy to root for and I got so frustrated by how he didn't stand up for himself!

The pacing was pretty solid up until the final section which had a lot of pontifications about life, fulfillment, and jobs. I could've appreciated this if it had been bolder; but, despite everything he endured with these awful jobs, Anyan didn't take a stronger stance in his reflections and the book ended on a paltry note. It also kinda just tapered out where this reader would've loved to know what Anyan was up to now!

I appreciated the translation (and translator's note). This book had such a strong sense of place and I think the translator made the right decision in not watering down the elements that may not have had a direct translation.

Huge points for: likeable main character, a glimpse into Chinese job culture, translation

I had my request to review this book approved by Allen Lane / Penguin on NetGalley.

[Resh (The Book Satchel)]

I Deliver Parcels for a Living by Hu Anyan, transl by Jack Hargreaves is a thought provoking memoir of a gig worker in China, told with dead pan humor. There were scenes that felt very moving (one being when a woman did not receive her parcel and inturn questioned the delivery person for leaving it in a secure place in the building). Sometimes the pain of the situation is delivered with humor. The book showed how there aren't many alternative career paths for the gig worker, how they are exploited, how they often go out of the way to complete tasks (sometimes with no monetary benefit). It also talked about the frustrations accompanying the job and how they would sometimes try to take revenge (not literally; more like an outlet for frustrations), and also how as time goes by, they just give up on the idea of getting back at a rude customer and just go about the rest of their tasks. While the book gives a lot of info on how the gig worker functions, I was disappointed to not know more about what goes inside their head or how they feel (something which I assumed from the title, would be part of the book). The first person account is quite an eye opener about the perils of the capitalist system and how gig workers earn their living.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC. All opinions are my own
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[Phoenix2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

'I Deliver Parcels in Beijing' is a biography about a man who worked many jobs, including delivering parcels.

The first part of the book was actually quite good and interesting to follow. It was more cohesive as well.

After the first two chapters, though, the story was a bit messy. It had its moments, but it wasn't as good as these first chapters.

The writing style, moreover, was honest, and it felt raw and realistic.

[Leo]

täysin nollatiedoilla kiinalaisesta yhteiskunnasta varustetulle lukijalle kiinnostava, lähinnä yhden ihmisen näkökulmasta avautuva kuvaus nykytyöläisen arjesta valtavan koneiston rattaissa

näkökulmaltaan usein suppea, mutta rivien välistä kyllä aukeaa myös laajempi kuva

[Norah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Als ambitie een spectrum was van 0 tot 100, staat Hu op -20. Gecombineerd met zijn onzekerheden die tot op het bot gaan, zet Hu hier een interessant memoir neer. Het boek is veeleer een factuele uiteenzetting van het leven als pakjeskoerier dan een literair werk. De weinige emotionele inzichten in het hoofd van de auteur zijn gelinkt aan onzekerheden, angsten of het gebrek aan een ruggengraat hebben. Hoeveel jobs deze man heeft gehad puur omdat hij de persoon die het aanbiedt niet wilt teleurstellen is waanzinnig!!!! Get him studied
(Ik wil wel eens een fictie-werk van hem lezen, want ik weet niet of dit echt een accurate weergave van zijn schrijfstijl, ik hoop voor hem van niet)

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reads very smoothly. Every sentence provides more details about the author's 19 odd jobs—the environment, his coworkers, his thought processes behind every decision, another person that comes in and out of his life—but you read through it effortlessly. Every sentence and paragraph is interlinked with the clarity of a dissertation, so somehow, despite the entirely non-chronological way the story is told, you always know where each new piece lays. It's the type of Chinese book that will most likely never get translated into English but you want all your American friends to read.

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But which customer thinks about how much a courier earns when they're choosing between giving five or three stars?"

This is a memoir of a man's experience working in almost twenty different jobs from when he was in high school till during the pandemic. The title refers to the last few jobs he did as a courier.

Throughout the book, I found myself feeling angry or frustrated because of the horrible and unfair work conditions. If it's just the customers who were self-absorbed assholes, fine, but it seemed like all along the production chain, bosses were treating their employees as expendable parts, which naturally resulted in employees finding ways to get something back for themselves, be it through slacking, stealing, or sabotaging those around them. People punched down because they could not punch up. Honestly I felt like every job he did was a bad job, not just the courier job but everything before that was also disturbing. Or could it be that there is genuinely no such thing as a 'good' job, a job that does not require some measure of sacrifice and suffering? The author is literally just trying to pay rent and stay alive, not even buy a house or ascend to the ranks of the bourgeoisie, but every step of the way, the bureaucracy coupled with the complete lack of worker solidarity made his life so unnecessarily hard.

Towards the end, the author talks about the concept of freedom and how a person's sense of personal freedom is not empirically tied to their circumstance. He gave the example of a farmer who has to suit the rhythms of nature but probably does not consider himself shackled, versus someone who received enough education to forever be discontent with their lot in life. Based on what I have seen, I'd agree with that, but also I wonder if the modern worker has a vastly different relationship with work now, in a time when working hard or having a degree is no guarantee of any kind of financial stability or even employability. An ordinary single income in the past could buy a house and support a family (and maybe even a mistress) but now, people barely feel able to support themselves, let alone kids.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

[Charlotte Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book as much about awful working conditions in the Chinese gig economy as it is about being a square peg in a round hole and people taking advantage of others’ kindness and naivety.
I found the matter of fact writing style weirdly soothing and tbh was always looking forward to picking this back up even though it made me feel pretty sad at times.
It made me really grateful for my lot and I’m glad the author is now able to make a living through his writing

[Lena Reads Everything · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young worker drifts through a series of exhausting odd jobs, from night shifts in southern logistics centers to parcel delivery in Beijing. Along the way, he endures grueling conditions, fleeting camaraderie, and the constant struggle to find rest and stability in anonymous mega-cities. Through it all, he develops a sharp humour and turns to reading and writing as a way to make sense of his life.

This book, first published in China in 2023, offers an eye-opening and deeply personal perspective on the realities of China’s work culture in the years leading up to COVID. Through AnYan’s candid storytelling, we’re taken inside the grind of countless odd jobs and shown how, despite the different industries, the workplace politics were almost always the same.

What struck me most was how universal his experiences felt: the mix of colleagues who genuinely cared and built solidarity, those driven purely by money and self-interest, and others content to coast by doing the bare minimum.

I really enjoyed the personal realisation as well that AnYan had at the end of how he should have stood up for himself and be true to his values, thought there were times he compromised.

The writing is at times dense with details, but I found that only made the narrative more authentic and grounded. Far from being a dry recounting, it felt like an unfiltered window into the lived experience of an ordinary worker navigating a demanding, often unforgiving environment.

Fascinating, relatable, and full of insight, it reminded me that, no matter how consuming or brutal a role may feel, at the end of the day a job is just a job. 3.75/5

Thanks to Astra PublishingHouse and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Available on the 28 October 2025.

[Weiling · Rating 3 out of 5]

38 degrees celsius (100 degrees fahrenheit), 92% humidity, a major rainstorm looming over Beijing’s densely populated urban area of 4,000 square miles, tens of thousands of delivery workers are rushing on the street trying to get their customers’ parcels or food delivered within the promised 30 minutes. The storm hits. Most of the city’s 30 million residents (two thirds are permanent) hide in their homes, offices, or malls and other covered spaces. The enormous proletariat army of delivery service donning yellow, blue, or grey uniforms that advertise the corporate giants of this industry, does not retreat. They keep riding, running, calling, and getting their job done, for a few quarters (in USD value). A fine of late delivery is incurred when the parcel fails to arrive in the hands of the client in time; some customers want them punished even more. But for millions across the country, some with college or more advanced academic degrees, the low-bar delivery job is the only employment they can find to earn a basic living wage in China’s massive urban economy that has encroached more rural land and livelihood than a sustainable agricultural economy would allow.

Hu Anyan, a nomadic worker with a passion for literature hailing from Guangdong, the Cantonese-speaking province, switched 20 jobs spanning roughly from 2005 to 2020, and geographically from the most dazzling metropolitan centers like Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing to lesser developed towns in Guangxi and Yunnan. The atlas of his work gives many snapshots of the uneven rise of China’s e-commerce bustling with knockoff brands. These snapshots reveal the demand of labor flexibility, merchant competition and tricks, and quick amassing and circulation of capital that constitute what Anna Kornbluh calls the too-late capitalist style of “immediacy.” One cannot get a fuller picture of “immediacy” without looking at the physical, mental, and emotional tolls this urgent, instantaneous consumerist culture exerts on the proletariat body. Eat, don’t think. Order, don’t wait. Patience evaporates as the demand of frictionless exchange dominates the ideology of consumerism and communication. “Blur, immersion, presence: too late is no longer merely late. The material corollary of this stylized time is the inevitable environmental ruin wreaked by undead zombie capitalism.”

Like zombies the delivery workers feel. They are often caught in, or causing, traffic gridlock from the street to residential or corporation buildings, accelerating and making sharp turns between vehicles, bikers, and pedestrians, parking their motorbikes on sidewalks, running into the gated highrise compounds while calling their customers, and punching the elevator buttons to every floor they need to reach. In 2019, after many failed business attempts and partnerships, Hu found himself on the other side of the delivery network that used to send him supplies and deliver his products.

Donning the uniform of a powerful logistics company after waiting many weeks for a delayed onboarding, Hu began to navigate the neighborhoods in the eastern section of Beijing, which is the title story. This job followed a months-long warehouse sorting job in Shenzhen, where he worked the night shift and physiological and mental stress quickly developed over the disrupted diurnal rhythm. In Beijing, it was not just the physical spaces of the streets and neighborhoods that he had to navigate. Like the millions of other delivery workers everywhere in the country, Hu’s tricycle, footprint, phone calls, and gas bill extend the massive computational system of the Internet of Things (IoT) to every elevator, winding hallway, and corner of every building. Their bodies, often soaked in sweat or frozen in wintry weather, configure the ubiquity of the IoT’s synthetic operational infrastructure.

For readers not familiar with the urban structure of Beijing and every other Chinese city, Hu’s self-reflective narrative doesn’t provide much context and interpretation. The city is laid out on the east-west and north-south axes, meanwhile concentric ring roads radiate from the city center, Tiananmen. Because of this orientation, more than most cities in the country or the world, Beijing’s streets are named with directions in the “suffix.” Land and property prices slide down from the center to the periphery, except for the area around the north fourth and fifth ring roads where universities and high-tech start-ups cluster. The neighborhoods that Hu was assigned to are farther out to the east, close to the Beijing Capital International Airport. Many were built in the last decade or two, often with names combining plants or affects featured in classic Chinese poetry and characters referencing wealth and prosperity. All residential compounds are gated for security reasons and marking boundaries — the hereditary obsession with walls and gates runs through Chinese architectural and spatial history — but only a minority are high-end.

In my brief elevator conversation with the delivery workers in Beijing the last two summers, they much prefer delivering parcels and food to companies to residential compounds. Whereas the safety codes of the former usually ask that the package be dropped off in the lobby, the latter would be door-to-door delivery covered by elevator time and foottaps inside the highrises. Malls and some restaurants during slow hours become their resting places where they recharge their batteries and bodies alike. The diurnal and energy cycles of the human body are plugged into and rubbed hard against the 24/7 digital and electric infrastructure to provide for the sleepless capitalist productivity, desire, and profit. The uniforms they are required to wear maximize their anonymity to the “immediacy” infrastructure and to the consuming public, blending them visually, functionally, and physically into what Marc Augé calls the “non-place” and “non-time” of late capitalism.

To systems that build by razing identities, individuals will always remain “anonymous” — they may have names and dreams, but those are treated indiscriminately and do not hold substantial, irreducible meanings. But even more so for the delivery and warehouse workers, they are physically embedded in the machine and infrastructure and literally become part of the nonhuman surrogate body of the city. Accelerated urbanization and financialization materializes much faster than can be absorbed by human capacity, whether in health, economy, or space and time. Ghost towns and malls emerge everywhere out of nowhere, marking futures already in ruins and abandonment. Who will be telling these stories of the emptied present and haunted future? Not the planners, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. Urban explorers and scholars might do it, but their vision is mediated through a protected position that the city recognizes. The raw and unguided experience comes only from those in a migrant worker’s limbo status. They may not provide a 30-thousand-foot view, but they see, inhabit, and coexist with the unfulfilled, sometimes rotten, plans of a future that most likely perpetuates the hyperconsumerist present without a pause or an exit.

[Sylvia Pu · Rating 5 out of 5]

微博上一个关注的图书编辑推荐的，阅读的过程十分愉快，作者是个观察能力强，记录也很勤勉的人，让我想起何伟就是随身带着笔记本，才写下很多旅途中的观察便于创作。有些时候甚至觉得有点翻译腔，像是在读外国作家的中译本，想来是作者多年闵读习惯的影响。
结尾提到的伍尔夫那篇读后感真的是精谁总结了这本书、 这位作者、这位作者的生活方式的灵魂：一个心中有理想，纯真且自尊的劳动者和追梦人，站在生活庞杂与污浊的十字路口，顶天立地，头颅高昂。

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the gig economy in China. Delivering packages in a small area in a large city, does not sound fun. Although, I would love to drive a trike.

I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der 1979 in Guangzhou geborene Hu Anyan begann gleich nach Schulabschluss im Niedriglohnsektor zu arbeiten und übte in den 20 nachfolgenden Jahren rund 19 verschiedene Jobs aus. Neben Aktivitäten als Verkäufer, Fahrradmechaniker, Sicherheitsmann, Koch oder Zeichner, arbeitete er ebenfalls mehrere Jahre in der Logistik und als Paketzusteller in Peking. Seine Erfahrungen mit den harten Arbeitsbedingungen teilte er zunächst in Online-Foren, ehe seine Texte über die Zeit im Lieferdienst während des COVID-Hochs viral gingen. Aufgrund dieses Erfolgs entstand das Buch "Ich fahr Pakete aus in Peking"(Originaltitel: 我在北京送快递 / Wo zai Beijing song kuaidi), das in China zum Bestseller avancierte und inzwischen auch ins Deutsche übersetzt wurde.

Was gleich auffällt ist der nüchterne Stil, den Anyan wählte, um seinen Alltag präzise und in seltenen Fällen mit trockenem Humor zu dokumentieren. Dabei wird weniger ein größerer Bogen gespannt oder der Versuch unternommen eine klassische Handlung aufzuziehen, sondern vielmehr eine sachliche Schilderung verschiedener Arbeitsabläufe verfolgt. So lernte ich viel über die Hackordnungen in Sortierhallen, die Bürokratie von chinesischen Personalabteilungen, die Bewältigung von Lieferwegen und besonders viel über die körperlichen und sozialen Belastungen als Niedriglohn- und Wanderarbeiter:in. Insofern präsentiert sich das Buch vor allem als eine Arbeitschronik, bei der nur selten Reflexionen über Freiheit und Identität im Spannungsfeld moderner kapitalistischer Gesellschaften stattfinden. Ich fand den autobiografischen Erfahrungsbericht sehr interessant und die prekären Lebensumstände Anyans trotz sachlicher Darstellung herzzerreißend. Dennoch stellte der nüchterne, oft repetitive Ton eine Herausforderung für mich dar und erschwerte mir den Zugang. Das Mosaik von Situationen und Erfahrungen, bei denen die Kapitel zwischen verschiedenen Jobs, Zeiten und Orten hin- und hersprangen, anstatt eine lineare Entwicklung zu beschreiben, war ebenfalls anstrengend. Dadurch entwickelte sich eine Monotonie, die mit der Zeit immer aufdringlicher wurde. Insgesamt ein wichtiges und interessantes Buch, dessen Inhalt jedoch für mich nicht wirkungsvoll genug transportiert wurde.

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should have just stopped reading this around 60%. Because I found the beginning sufficiently interesting and thought-provoking but oof, the last 40% was straight-up boring and a little bit pretentious with odd pacing.

For the first chunk of the book, it was a bit mundane but it also felt almost dystopian. Which, I recognize, is because of my privilege. Not unlike how some white feminists will say that all the *gestures broadly* going on is like Gilead, meanwhile Black women and other marginalized folks will remind us that much of that *more gesturing* has been happening to oppressed groups forever, I am aware that there are probably people in my community right now experience the same or worse working conditions.

Anyway, all that to say: this book exposed me to some pretty astonishing work cultures and conditions in a very matter-of-fact way, sometimes really leaning into some deadpan humour. It certainly got me thinking about class and capitalism in that context but the author himself does pretty much no analysis in that regard and just some minimal reflection.

Finally that brings me to the author himself. I can't say that I enjoyed spending time with him. I do have compassion for his social anxiety and how it led to some choices he shares but it's frustrating and often uncomfortable hearing some of his history. He does partake in some self-reflection eventually, and that softened me a bit but ultimately I found him neither relatable nor resonant. Also no thanks to the not infrequent casual fatphobia.

I received digital and audio Advance Reader Copies from NetGalley, Astra Publishing House and Brilliance Audio in exchange for an honest review.

[Sue Oshin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best memoir i read so far in 2025 😻

Honestly, i wanted to read it so badly and thats why i request this title 2 months ago. Hehehe, happy me 😝

Usually i read a memoir about lost (a life after divorced, struggle to be a single mom/dad, and about love), but this one is different. Its about a carrier life as a delivery man who works in one of the largest parcel sorting centre in Beijing.

The translation works well for me. I dont have any issue to understand each paragraph (sometimes i have this issue in certain translated books 😅, so as a translator… im quite understand that the process of translate are not easy like a slice of cake).

What do you understand the words of “hard work”? It is can mean many different things like… hmm might be that work are technically or physically hard to do. But for me, hard work is when we are working too hard to achieve something that we target.

In this memoir, i can see through ups and downs when we work in this fields. For the first three days, they works without any payment as a trial (actually it violates the labor act), but the writer need this job to survives. Hu Anyan also said that he lost weight in a month of work. His work is very busy from 7pm to 7am and hardly to get rest.

The rest of his journey, you can find this book and read it. Very recommend!

[Patrik Šváb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kniha “Rozvážím balíky po Pekingu” je z mnoha důvodů obtížná na hodnocení. Je rozhodně originální, styl psaní je poměrně politicky nezaujatý, což není samozřejmost (i když jistá preference “zahraničního” před “čínským” se u autora místy objevuje). Na příkladu zhruba 20 prací popisuje zajímavé aspekty čínského trhu práce.

Na druhou stranu je kniha zvláštně uspořádaná. Pořádně jsem ocenil vyprávění až v kapitole “Moje další džoby”. Tato kapitola se mi líbila nejvíce i proto, že vyprávění v předchozích kapitolách mi přišlo příliš detailní, co se týče pracovní agendy, a málo detailní, co se týče kontextu čínské ekonomiky a společnosti.

Přesto se v knize objevila řada zajímavých věcí. Highlights: pracovní model “996”, přesah pracovního života do osobního - wechatové skupiny, nezvladatelná (dokonalá?) konkurence, trollové pro vylepšování hodnocení e-portálů, dopad (částečného) zavádění trhu na mezigenerační rozdíly, kopírování zahraniční literatury, krysy v pekařství, macerování kuřecích pařátků.

[Memorin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mám u čtení asociace se stylem psaním a určitou mluvou Murakamiho (že by společná asijskost?), nevím, zda to může být překladem, jelikož překlad z čínštiny a japonštiny bude odlišný a i překladatel je jiný.
Zaměstnance a zaměstnavatele pojmenovává podle písmen. To zase asociace kafkovinou (mimochodem tam F. Kafku explicitně zmiňuje - a čte - stejně jako V. Woolf).
Svým feelingem a popisy malých věcí připomíná film Perfect Days, který mimochodem velmi doporučuji! - láska od prvního záchodku~ A taky tou introvertností jsou si podobní. Ale tohle je mnohem dokument a memoár.
Hot pot, bentó, svátky jara a den lampiónů <3

[Kalil Zaidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

um apanhado de relatos e reflexões sobre condições de trabalho e relações humanas q expressa não só a realidade na China, mas em qualquer país com algum nível de desigualdade atualmente. a escrita é super direta ao ponto, porém as situações e os causos são narrados de um jeito bem instigante, o livro me prendeh bastante.

o autor, além de contar sobre seus diversos empregos, também se dedica a examinar sua personalidade e o modo como lida com as pessoas e de q jeito tudo isso se conecta à sua trajetória profissional. é um livro bem honesto da parte dele e gostei bastante de como ele conduz a obra. vale muito a pena ler!

[Wendelle]

a thoroughly absorbing account, for the hours that one spends reading this, one inhabits the life of a man working the distribution centers and delivery routes in Beijing and Shanghai. The author, Hu Anyan, worked a series of labor-intensive jobs, first in a distribution center that's the size of several football fields and reminiscent of Amazon warehouses, second in a delivery courier position dropping off parcels of online orders, the third as a clerk in a convenience store and then a bike store. He shares the constant fatigue, lack of sleep, and feelings of atomisation that arise from these postings of mechanized labor. He is constantly concerned with calculations of efficiency, for example the time he takes per delivery, the routes to maximize dropoffs, and the amount of yuan he can spend on lunches or medical care, down to the last time slice or penny. The work is backbreaking and relentless, the customers can be grateful or entitled about personalized package delivery, the managers can be thoughtful and humane or authoritarian and dismissive of workers' contributions and labor rights. While customers can afford to be cavalier about missing or losing packages, the delivery guy had to pay to make it right with his own time and money.
It's striking how similar the routine is to Amazon workers, despite difference in geography. Near the end, the author talks about his history in graphic design, anime work and punk circles, and how his realization of his individuality has fostered his resilience and convictions.