I Deliver Parcels in Beijing
Original title:
Synopsis
In 2023 I Deliver Parcels in Beijing became one of the literary sensations of the year in China. Since then, rights have been sold in 15 other territories and counting. The story of a worker doing odd jobs in various anonymous cities, his stories hit a nerve with a generation of young Chinese who feel at odds with an ever-growing pressure to perform and succeed.
Hu AnYan was unemployed during the COVID-19 years and started posting some of his writing online. The essay which went viral is the first in this collection: he recounts working night shifts in a huge logistics center in the South of China. Even at night, it is so hot that he never needed a toilet break despite drinking three liters of water. The work is brutal, and there is no real sense of future in sight. Both he and his coworkers make choices informed by the number of coins in their pockets: alcohol or air-con, early morning karaoke before going home, or washing clothes.
Hu AnYan goes from one odd job to another, one anonymous megalopolis to another, and candidly shares his story. How every Yuan counts when choosing which room to rent or which noodles to eat, but also how he discovers literature, music and writing as ways to escape a bleak reality. With a deadpan sense of humor carrying him through, he depicts a generation who might choose not to join the rat race of career and status, and invites us to take a close at the ‘small people’ constituting the fundamental fabric of our societies.
Marketing Information
- English sample available, accompanied by some context
- Published in China by Insight Media in March 2023, the book is a bestselling title in China as well and also one of the most critically acclaimed books of 2023.
- Book of the Year 2023 and Book of the Month in various publications and platforms, including Sanlian Life Weekly (comparable to Time Magazine), Caixin (highly regarded magazine), New Beijing News, Southern People’s Weekly, Literature and Art News, Tencent, Southern Weekly, Phoenix Media, etc.
- The author was named among the Outstanding Young People of the Year in Southern People Weekly (a magazine focusing on social issues and known for in-depth journalism)
- It ranked Number 1 on Douban’s Hot Books list for 9 consecutive weeks and has continued to be in Douban’s Top 10 Social Documentary Hot Books list since its publication (Douban is a platform comparable to GoodReads)
- Author tour in China in 9 cities. The author recorded a dozen podcasts, which were played, cumulatively, more than a million times on various online platforms
- The book was recommended on Bilibili in a dozen videos, which were also viewed over a million times
- Film rights were optioned by a Chinese production company, and a TV series production has already started (also in China)