Three times around world, postal worker keeps going

From letters to parcels, mailman walks 10 hours a day, delivering happiness

Over the course of 12 years, Tang Heshun has walked 130,000 kilometers, the equivalent of more than three times around the equator, carrying mail and parcels on his back.

He's a postman in rural Lanzhou, in Northwest China's Gansu province. Whether it is sunny, snowy or rainy, dressed in a green working suit and carrying a green bag and a crabstick, Tang does his rounds on foot every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It isn't uncommon to see him covered in mud on rainy days, and in sand on sunny days.

Getting up at around 6 am, it takes an hour for him to get to the post office in Lanzhou's Xigu district.

At 9 am, the post office staff start sorting mail, which they must distribute to three postal workers, including Tang, before 9:30.

His delivery area lies at an average altitude of about 2,100 meters. Vehicles can't reach most villages because of cliffs and mountains.

Born in 1966, Tang is a native of Jingou village in Lanzhou. Twelve years ago, his cousin retired as a postal worker because of a bad ankle, and hoped Tang would take over his job.

Formerly a farmer, Tang always thought it would be good to serve the villagers, so he accepted the offer and passed the interview.

For many years, whenever he thought of giving up because of bad weather, he would think about his cousin, who is his role model.

On a chilly spring morning, Tang is dressed in a shirt and a jacket. It's easier to climb mountains in this outfit, he said.

Loaded with mail, letters, a bottle of water and some steamed buns, he begins work.

Sometimes, when he runs out of drinking water on his 10-hour days, he grabs a handful of snow and eats it, instead.

He vividly recalls the terrifying experience of falling into a 2-meter-deep hole in the mountains the first year he was working. It almost cost him his life.

He returned home later than normal and was not able to hide what had happened from his wife and daughter because of his bruises and wounds.

"My family has been trying to talk me out of this job since then," Tang said. "And I also started to think about giving up until one day, I delivered an envelope containing an admission letter to college.

"I don't want my family to be upset, but I'll also never forget the light in the villager's eyes when I delivered his letter of acceptance."

After 12 years, Tang has become familiar with the roads and knows which is better on sunny days and which is better on snowy and rainy days.

He's worn hundreds of pairs of shoes and thousands of socks to pieces, and dealt with the challenges of poisonous snakes, bad weather and landslides. The one thing he isn't able to overcome is loneliness.

While delivering mail, Tang talks to those he meets about what's going on in the cities, and is a source of information for villagers in rural Lanzhou. "Tang is so nice and diligent, he's like a link between me and the outside world," said Wang Haozhong, a villager from Jingou.

The postman's mail bag is witness to the changes in village life.

As the number of letters has decreased, the number of packages has increased.

"The more online shopping there is, the more deliveries we have," he said.

Some of the packages contain things people buy online, others are sent by family members working faraway. They mostly contain daily items, clothing and stationery.

In 2019, Tang's dedication earned him the title of "Good Samaritan of China". Over the course of so many years, Tang can't remember how much mail he has delivered.

"Maybe there will be more advanced ways of delivering mail in the future, but I will continue in this job for as long as the villagers need me."