Delivery life

China's third largest city, Guangzhou is an important Chinese food center. A city known for having various types of cuisine. 

Meituan is China's largest online and on-demand delivery platform and one of the largest in the world. According to data from Meituan Takeaway, at Mid-Autumn Festival 2021, the growth of food delivery orders increased by 31.49% compared to 2020. Guangzhou is the city with the highest number of food delivery orders during the Festival, followed by Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

It's quite common to walk the streets of China and see men in yellow uniforms, with the company's symbol (a kangaroo) everywhere. But China's regulatory agencies are pushing platforms like Meituan to ensure that food delivery workers earn above the country's minimum wage, work free from the demands placed on them by algorithms and have access to social security and a seat in the union. On October 8, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced a $534 million fine on Meituan for monopolistic behavior.

Due to all the controversies involving the company and the rights of its employees, I decided to document the work routine of a Meituan delivery man.

Yan Sainan, 20, earns 8 RMB per delivery, working 10 hours a day, every day. On a typical day, he manages to make 20 deliveries. According to him, the most he got was 60 deliveries in one day.

Yan, formerly working as a vehicle mechanic and living in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, decided to move to Guangzhou for more job opportunities. He intends to save 100,000 RMB to pay his bride's family a dowry and make their relationship official when they turn 22. In the meantime, the two maintain a virtual and secret relationship.

Yan said he rented a cheap apartment on the outskirts of the city, but unfortunately the cost of renting and maintaining the motorcycle exceeds what he earns. He said that working with deliveries is a dangerous job and he was recently in a traffic accident, but luckily he was able to get back to work quickly. He wants to find a better job, but unfortunately he has no options at the moment.