"Next day delivery" in the depths of Tianshan Mountains

URUMQI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Have a guess: how long does it take for a herdsman of a pasture deep in the Tianshan Mountains, more than 4,000 km away from China's capital Beijing, to receive the goods he ordered online?

The answer is one day.

Nurbanjan on the summer pasture in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region awaited on horseback by a dirt road. Seeing the dust appearing at the other end, he smiled, knowing that the delivery vehicle was about to arrive.

The 45-year-old man, who has been living a migrating life for decades, fell in love with e-commerce earlier this year. In the summer, he grazed his horses and lived in makeshift shelters, which meant he did not have a specific address. His place of residence on the grassland couldn't even be found on the mobile maps. Therefore, the delivery man called him beforehand. Normally he would ride to the location where they agreed to meet and the delivery man would hand him his parcel.

"This time I ordered a gas cooker, and received it on the afternoon of the next day," he said.

In the past, he would spend an hour riding horseback to reach seat of the county, Xinyuan, often solely for the purpose of buying daily necessities in the bazaar. Larger items such as electrical appliances were hard to carry.

Now that the area he resides in has a wireless network, he can easily make purchases with his mobile phone and have everything sent to him. He can also try the products in offline stores before placing an order.

Nurbanjan noted that e-commerce is changing the lives of the herdsman in the depths of mountains.

Xinjiang had built 39,000 5G base stations by the end of April 2023. Currently, all the region's prefecture-level cities, all its counties and 99.16 percent of its townships are covered by 5G networks. There are 15 5G base stations for every 10,000 residents in Xinjiang.

Xinyuan County boasts vast pastures which attract herdsmen from elsewhere. The remote area which used to be without water and electricity is now covered with 5G networks, and people today are able to enjoy the "order now, receive tomorrow" free shipping services.

In a delivery distribution center in the county, Xinhua reporters saw various products to be sent to the buyers, including cosmetics, snacks and electrical appliances.

The improved quality of life in Xinyuan has led to a surge in demand for products on e-commerce platforms. Furthermore, the development of the tourism industry has also played a role in the increase of orders.

The Narat grassland, which is a popular destination for both domestic tourists and those from Central Asian countries, is in the Xinyuan County. Seizing this opportunity, some local herdsmen started restaurants and homestays. In the first four months this year, sales of electrical appliances such as air conditioners, televisions and fridges grew by nearly 20 percent from the same period last year, according to Tang Xiaowei, a local staff with China's online retailer giant JD.com.

He Shaobin, another staff member with JD.com working in Xinyuan, said that they are expanding their delivery range. "The next few months are going to be the peak season for electrical appliance sales, and the delivery range of local distribution centers will reach 140 km to cover the remote areas in the depths of mountains," he said. "It is our goal to make 'next day delivery' no matter how far the clients are."

The company has also built several logistics warehouses and transshipment warehouses in Xinjiang to lower the cost and speed up delivery.