I Deliver Parcels in Beijing cover art

I Deliver Parcels in Beijing

On Making a Living

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I Deliver Parcels in Beijing

By: Hu Anyan, Jack Hargreaves - translator
Narrated by: Winson Ting
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A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and what it means to live

A Book of the Year in the Guardian, Sunday Times, Economist and the Financial Times

Shortlisted for the Baifang Schell Book Prize: Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction

Hu AnYan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He’s been a convenience store clerk, a bicycle salesman, a security guard and a delivery driver (among many other things). Every time the work gets punishing or the bosses too bossy, he moves on, from city to city, carrying with him nothing but his copies of Chekhov and Carver. This is his story.

A runaway bestseller in China, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is about what it’s like to try and make a living – and stay sane – in the gig economy. From the pecking order on a parcel-sorting factory floor to the perfect alcohol dose to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and even freedom in his existence.

Quietly radical, brimming with humanity and humour, this book asks: what does work really mean? What should it mean? And do any of us really know how to live?

© Hu AnYan 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Cultural & Regional Social Classes & Economic Disparity Sociology Urban China Witty
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Critic Reviews

Powerful... grim indictment of a terrible system, though Anyan finds humour and dignity in his bleakest moments (Books of the Year)
A fascinating insight into China's gig economy and the frustrations, fears and hopes of a rising generation that will shape the country's future (Books of the Year)
Hypnotic . . . I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is quietly revolutionary simply because it treats the minutiae of work itself as important. The bureaucratic nightmare of trying to get a company to onboard a new employee; the propensity of electronic delivery bikes to break down; the discomfort of delivering packages in the freezing cold, but having to wear fingerless gloves to type on a phone screen—that these can be the topic of a book is almost revelatory
Hu Anyan's reflections touch on universal concerns. The language may be Chinese, but the exhaustion is global. Britain's work culture, long defined by quiet endurance, has slipped into its own paradox: a nation that works longer hours yet produces less, where the promise of flexibility too often disguises instability
Mr Hu’s straightforward prose and keen eye for detail capture the drudgery of gruelling low-wage work... Writing, Mr Hu insists, is an opposite pursuit, allowing him to express his individuality and depict that of other people. He has gone from shengchan, producing, to shenghuo, living
An insightful, relatable, and often humorous account of working life in twenty-first-century China
An unforgettable portrayal of the gruelling realities of work in the gig economy... Despite documenting hardship and frustration, [it] is narrated in an intimate and witty style – for which English translator Jack Hargreaves deserves great credit... inspiring [and] open-hearted
All stars
Most relevant
I loved this book, this man and his life. A superb perspective of the highly literate proletariat, brilliantly translated and lucidly read. Bravo!

The book of the year

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Very earnestly and well-written. It is a delight to see into the mind of Hu Anyan as he works odd jobs across China and especially his mindset for such work. Some have stated that the work provides a depressing insight into the gig economy, but his pervasive positivity made me hopeful for these alternative lifestyles, especially via his mindset and personal philosophies.

The Chinese names in the narration were a bit awkwardly interjected at times.

A great read

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The way Chinese place names were inserted into audio. Obviously later. it reminded me of my local railway announcements " This train goes to.." "Woy Woy" ( said in a high pitch obviously inserted later) . Terribly distracting wondering if the whole thing was done with AI.

Terrible audio

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