China Post
Parcel hand-off:
Our first stop was an office operated by state-owned China Post Group, where we spent twenty-five minutes, making this the longest express shipping process of our day. China Post required a passport and a cash payment to ship to the US, and we were given a delivery window of two to three weeks by air.
The process in the China Post office was a bit daunting. The employee there had to look up the rate calculation in a notebook of handwritten notes, and all of the shipping information required manual entry into the computer. A seven-page waybill accompanied the shipment, with each page requiring four stamps, and three additional stamps required for the package itself. The shipping cost was 176 RMB (about US$28).
Expected Journey:
Just how might this package make it to the US? Not on China Postal Airlines metal. With 31 active freighters operating predominantly within a domestic rotation, China Postal Airlines does not currently operate long-haul freighter service between the US and China. Our best guess is that the parcel will move to the US in the belly of a combination carrier, before being injected into the United States Postal Service (USPS) network.
Here is a look at China Postal’s current freighter network. For more information, visit www.ECommerceAir.com.