^{Stress and Risks Mire Online Food Delivery Workers in China}

Donning a blue jacket, black trousers and a blue helmet with her brown-eyes glued to a 5.5-inch mobile screen on a busy Weigongcun road, Zhang Hai Su is waiting for her turn to deliver the food orders.

New to Beijing city with 21 million souls working hard to earn a decent living, 39-year-old Su, a native of Linfen city in the southwest of Shanxi province came to the Chinese capital with a dream of giving her children a better life.

On one fine hot morning in May, earlier this year, she and her husband left their home, their farm, their two children, behind to work as food delivery workers in Beijing. The decision was hard, but they had to make it for their children, for their education, and for a better future.

From growing rice and corn infields, Su started working for Ele.me, an online food delivery service. But within the first few months, she started realizing the harsh realities of this work.

Every day, she has to deliver food to 25-30 customers across 431 square kilometer area covering Beijing’s Haidian district. But attempting every delivery is a challenge when every inch of the road is covered with cars and people.

“We have to deliver food at such a pace as if it is a war. When you have 6 to 8 order at a single time, youoften get confused. Sometimes my brain goes numb when I have too many orders to deliver at a single time,” Su says while clasping her hands with fingerless gloves.

"This is not an easy work and often stressful and considering the expenses of living in Beijing, I don’t save much,” she adds.

As Chinese food deliver industry continues to expand tremendously with growth in the user base, the companies are competing hard to deliver food at the shortest possible time to retain the loyal customer base.

But that comes at a cost of exposing the food delivery workers to greater risk amid deteriorating working conditions. Often the workers in rush to deliver food on time are caught in traffic accidents.

While the data specifying the frequency of such incidents involving food delivery workers haven’t been compiled for each province, but the data arranged by the Department of Transportation in Nanjing city sheds alight on the broader picture of the precarious job.

33-years-old Cui Haining left his peanut oil processing factory in Hebei province almost two years ago to cash in the highly incentivized food delivery industry in Beijing. But two years after working for Ele.me, he is looking out for an escape.

“When I started working, thewages were very good but nowadays the wages aren’t that good,” Haining said.

“I used to make more than 10000 a month but now I hardly earn 8000 out of which a major part is spent on the daily expenses,” he added.

Haining believes that the job is becoming more and more stressful with each passing day as the people using online food delivery apps continue to rise.

“There is no time left for meto spend with my family. I start my day early and finish late. I have become morelike a machine,” he said and added, “delivery is becoming more and moredifficult with the chaotic roads which are always filled with traffic.”

The only thing that unites Su and Haining is their wish to return back to their respective provinces rather than working stressfully and risking their lives while delivering food in Beijing.

Haining wants to open a small restaurant and sell traditional Chinese cuisines, while Su anticipates her return to farming after saving enough to pay for the education of her children.

“I prefer growing rice and corn more than doing this stressful job,” Su adds as she runs to collect a food order from a nearby restaurant.