Jingdong ayi lai la! Or “The Jing Dong auntie is here!” in plain English.
With rosy cheeks, unmistakably the result of spending a lot of time outdoors in the ice box that is Beijing winter, He Fang emerges from behind a long line of delivery karts, wrapped in several layers. Her outer layer is a perfect match for the tiny three-wheeled vehicles: red and emblazoned with “JDL.” The three letters stand for JD Logistics, the shipping and delivery arm of JD.com, launched in 2004 and now one of China’s three key e-commerce players, together with Alibaba and PDD.
On this January day, this writer finds herself at a JD delivery center in east Beijing, ready for a Q&A with He, right before her third and final delivery round of the day late in the afternoon.
A mother of two teenagers, He is one of a growing number of women entering China’s delivery industry, until now a male-dominated sector, as food delivery drivers and couriers.
“This job provides a stable income, which is.