Second-generation postman connects isolated communities

For nearly two decades, postman Lhalung Dorje has navigated rocky mountain roads, icy winter routes and remote grassland pastures along what locals call the "Long March mail route".

High on the plateau in Sichuan province's Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture, this winding corridor crosses some of the most unforgiving terrain once traversed by Red Army soldiers during the Communist Party of China's historic Long March.

The strategic transfer, which lasted from 1934 to 1936 and covered more than 12,500 kilometers, carried CPC forces from their main base in Ruijin, Jiangxi province, as well as from other bases, to northern Shaanxi province.

More than 90 years after Red Army troops embarked on that journey, Lhalung Dorje embodies the spirit of the Long March — defined by authorities as devotion to the public interest, dogged perseverance in the face of hardship, self-sacrifice and solidarity with ordinary people — by making daily deliveries to isolated villages.

Cost considerations keep most private delivery firms confined to county-level hubs in Zoige, a sprawling county covering more than 10,600 square kilometers, with just over 80,000 residents spread across 13 township-level administrative units.

Under China Post's universal service mandate, Lhalung Dorje and his team press on to remote hamlets and nomadic grazing grounds. Postal workers provide a critical public service lifeline, delivering supplies such as medicine to far-flung nomadic communities and transporting local dairy products and handicrafts to outside markets, helping residents earn an income.

At 42, Lhalung Dorje has spent much of his life immersed in postal work, following in the footsteps of his father. The elder postman began his career in the 1970s, initially traveling on horseback along muddy tracks before switching to a bicycle. Decades of riding through choking road dust left him with occupational lung disease.

"My father told me, once you choose this path, you must see it through to the end, do not give up halfway," Lhalung Dorje recalled. He joined China Post in April 2007, carrying on the family tradition.

Peril is a constant companion on these routes. On one occasion, a massive boulder crashed onto the road and struck the front of his van. "I hit the gas and accelerated through. When I saw how huge that rock was, I felt real fear," he said.

Long hours on these punishing routes have forged bonds between Lhalung Dorje and local residents that go well beyond typical customer-provider relationships. Limited communications and little contact with the outside world make postal workers one of the communities' most reliable links to the world.

During one bitter winter, he deviated from his scheduled route to deliver urgently needed medication to a sick village child. When he arrived, the boy's elderly grandfather was waiting in the falling snow, flakes settling on his head.

"Our hardship cannot compare with what the Red Army endured, but the spirit is the same," Lhalung Dorje said. "Each generation has its own Long March to walk."

This modern-day Long March also requires learning new skills. Though naturally reserved, Lhalung Dorje began hosting free public-welfare livestreams in 2021 to help plateau farmers sell yak meat, chickens and local fruit. One two-hour livestream promoting locally grown green plums generated 800,000 yuan ($119,600) in sales.

"My calves trembled, my face burned hot behind the camera, I feared missing every line on the teleprompter," he said.

Eager to explore further innovations, he studied for about 40 days and retook two exams to earn a civilian drone pilot license.

"For me, studying drone flight is my own snow mountain and grassland to cross," he said, invoking the Long March's brutal terrain. He hopes drones will one day help deliver mail to areas cut off by winter snow or landslides while transporting highland agricultural products to outside markets.

Co-workers describe him as reliable and generous. Tsering Lhamo, a fellow postal employee, said Lhalung Dorje always steps up when the office is overwhelmed with parcels.

"He bears heavy responsibility. When workloads pile up, he is the first one to come and help," she said.

Lhalung Dorje plans to remain on rural mail routes until retirement, he said.

"My original wish is simple: to serve local ordinary people and bring them convenience," he said.