It's a long, hard road for mail-loving postman
In the past 32 years, Liu Xueming, a postman working at the Caomu Village Post Office in Fengjie county, Chongqing municipality, has walked about 560,000 km delivering the mail. That is equal to about 14 trips around the planet.
Liu began his career with the postal service at the age of 19 in December 1976 in this remote mountainous area sitting 1,300 m above sea level. Since there is no road connecting the village to the outside world, he has to set out at 3 am and returns home at 9 pm, tramping 40 km over hill and dale and crossing the Heilong River several times once every three days to fetch the newspapers, magazines, letters, remittances and parcels people send via the post.
After completing his rounds, he quickly distributes the packages.
The habit dates back to the 1980s, when the country's telecommunication services were not well developed and newspapers and letters were the only way for the villagers to stay in touch with the outside world. When he is busy, Liu has been known to ask his family members to help him with short-distance deliveries.
Liu's life is relatively free of entertainment and fashion - he does not even own a pair of leather shoes. As a result of all the walking he does, he wears out a pair of straw sandals (made locally out of grass) every two days in the summer and three pairs of rubber shoes every two months in the winter.
Liu Yong, Liu Xueming's son, recalled that he once accompanied his father to Pinggao Post Office Branch to pick up the post, but had to return home because of the long distances involved - they walked more than 16 hours in one day.
Despite the extreme conditions he must endure, Liu has never complained about his meager salary. During the first eight years of his career, he earned just 24 yuan ($16 in 1976) per month.
His salary was increased to 350 yuan ($50) late last year, but the recent price rises caused by inflation have eaten into the quality of his life.
Still, his chief concern is to continue acting as the conduit through which local villages and the outside world stay connected.
"If I moved to a city, I'm sure I would earn more money, but because of the high intensity and low pay of this job, no one would take my place. The connection between the villages here and the outside world would be cut," Liu said.
By his own estimation, he has delivered more than 200 tons of mail in the past 32 years. He also become friends with all the villagers along the way.
"I count on seeing his silhouette every few weeks," Li Shanyuan, a villager in Caomu county, said.
"To ordinary people like us, Liu has succeeded in an impossible mission," Luo Yongqing, director of the county's post office, said.
China Daily
(China Daily 03/26/2008 page6)
