The humdrum of daily life is prompting more people to seek solace in virtual world
Every time Gao Tangtang mails a postcard and a small packet of sand from the post office deep inside the Tengger Desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, she hopes to reduce the recipient's anxiety and loneliness.
Since 2021, the 37-year-old has been running this desert-themed post office. Due to its remote location — difficult to access without a guide — netizens have dubbed it the "loneliest post office in the world".
"I am someone who easily feels down, yet I also have a strong sense of empathy. I often need products that stabilize my emotions, and I believe many others in society, too, need the same," Gao said.
READ MORE: Letters carry heartfelt love from the Tengger Desert
Customers can place orders for postal services with the post office on online platforms such as Taobao. Since early 2022, when it started operations, the post office has dispatched more than 20,000 letters and postcards. "As the pace of life accelerates, more and more people need emotional support. People like buying things that may seem useless (to others) but are meaningful (to the purchaser)."
In May this year, the China Consumers Association released its"2023 Annual Report on Consumer Rights Protection", which said that in 2024, apart from cost-effectiveness, emotional value will continue to influence young consumers' decisions. This factor could become a new point of consumption in the future.
Besides, a report by McKinsey & Company on China's consumer trends in 2024 said 64 percent of consumers place a higher value on emotional consumption, with the figure being higher for younger people.
Solace from the desert
Gao, originally from Shanxi province, made several trips to the desert between 2016 and 2017 during a difficult period in her working life in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. During her trips to the desert, she realized her personal troubles were insignificant against the vastness of the desert, while walking in the desert allowed her to indulge in self-introspection.
In 2021, after learning from locals that a post office existed in the Tengger Desert, she decided to turn into reality her long-held dream of opening a store to provide people with products and services that would ease their worries. She spent nearly 100,000 yuan ($14,000) to rebuild a wooden house with a tin roof on the approximate spot where the old post office stood. She also set up a campsite about 5 kilometers from the post office.
Both the post office and campsite are simple structures, with all the necessities being transported from outside. People visiting the place bring some supplies. The rest is delivered once a week. However, from November to April, that is, during the harsh winter months, the supplies are delivered once a month.
Gao's team consists of nine people. In the beginning, her friends didn't quite understand her endeavor. One of her friends once asked, "How are you going to run a post office? How will it make money?" Gao said that many brands are engaged in the "emotional healing" business, with most of them doing well, and she has collaborated with some of them to run joint campaigns. So she too can survive.
"This is my career now. While people talk about passion, doing what you love also needs to be commercially viable. Some succeed, some fail. Everyone faces their own challenges, but I feel luckier than most because I am doing something I love," she said.
The post office uses its own stamp, and the letters and postcards need to be transported from the desert to the nearest town to be mailed to the addressees through China Post. Most of the mails are sent as regular letters, passing through various postal stops, with the stamps marking the course of their journey — something Gao and the recipients of the letters find deeply meaningful.
In March 2022, the post office planted nearly 10,000 trees for the National Tree Planting Day (observed on March 12 every year) near the campsite as a way to celebrate Mother Nature. This prompted many people to come forward and place orders on Taobao to adopt a tree in the desert.
"These trees, with a lifespan of more than 100 years, will outlive the emotions they represent, establishing a lasting connection between their benefactors and the world," she said.
Sharing her story, the mother of a child who regularly communicates with Gao said she has been diagnosed with cancer, and her child is only about one year old. She adopted a tree and hoped her child would be able to visit it and feel her love maybe 10 years later. The tree has thus become an extension of her emotions.
Gao said that some people come to see the trees they've adopted, though their stories remain unknown. Some adopt trees in memory of friends who have died. They see their friends in these trees. Couples, too, frequently plant trees together.
"From my school days to my work life, I've always made my own choices. I've always been an introvert, but I deeply empathize with people around me," Gao said."I think many people in the world are like me — they need a place to speak. City dwellers might feel tense during the day and lonely at night. This place provides them with comfort."
New way to help people
Jiang Nan, 27, from Anhui province, has been running an online store since 2023, offering services like "wake-up calls" for people whose relationship has gone sour, and chatting with strangers to keep them "company". Before opening the store, he realized, while watching short videos, that virtual products, too, could be profitable. So he started his own business. Initially, his earnings were modest, but then he began offering chatting services to help customers feel better and relaxed.
Jiang has more than 200 customer service representatives who work with him on a freelance basis. Many of them have full-time jobs, and whoever is available to attend to a customer takes the orders. The representatives chat with the customers via WeChat or QQ, and Jiang trains them to ensure customers feel the services offered are worth their money.
At first, the service was not available at night, but some representatives offered to work overnight, because many customers experience emotional upsurge at night and need help. In some cases, overseas students, due to the time difference, seek chat services during the day.
The majority of Jiang's customers are between 18 and 30 years old, and the service costs about 20 yuan ($2.85) per session, with the pricing based on time. Customers often specify the topics they want to talk about, such as "counseling" after a breakup, casual chatting, or advice on studies, love matters or work. They are then paired with a representative who "specializes" in that field.
It is important to add a personal touch to the service, Jiang said. If the conversation is too compliant, it loses its meaning. For emotional subjects, the representatives who are older and have more life experience are assigned to offer guidance or help to lighten up the customer's mood.
In the earlier days, Jiang was asked by a customer to supervise a person's daily routine, and praise his drawings every day. Initially, he was not sure how to make the client happy, but after receiving daily drawings and praising them, both Jiang and the client grew in confidence. This continued for nearly three months.
Jiang started the business to earn some extra income, but as he continued helping people feel better, he realized it was a meaningful pursuit and decided to keep going."This service isn't a necessity," he acknowledges."Most people wouldn't search for it unless they really needed to share or outpour their emotions. Sometimes, customers don't feel comfortable sharing certain issues with people who are close to them, but they also don't want to keep things bottled up, so they turn to online chatting."
Jiang recalls a woman who was scared to be alone at night whenever her husband went on a business trip. She hired a female representative to stay on video call with her for one to two hours every night or until she fell asleep. The thought of being able to reach out to someone, even if virtually, whenever she wanted to gave her a sense of security.
ALSO READ: Desert tourist attractions fuel travel enthusiasm in NW China
Jiang, who receives tens of thousands of orders a year, said products with emotional value are becoming increasingly popular, with society gradually embracing "breakup support" services and other emotional offerings. Incidentally, most of his customers are women.
"Many people today prefer to not engage with others in the real world," he said. "They have their online world, their own little bubble. People working in big cities often don't have many friends, and fear that if they share their personal stories with someone, they could become the topic of gossip. But if you pay for a service online, you get what you need without worrying about privacy."
On Taobao, unusual products such as leaves and sand, even air bottled in containers high up in the mountains are gaining popularity. Jiang said this is because young people today live monotonous lives, with work and personal stress pushing them to seek solace online.
Jiang works for an e-commerce company in Shanghai, with his Taobao store being a side business that brings in about 10,000 yuan a month. He plans to marry his girlfriend next year. But the couple have no plans to buy property in Shanghai, because they don't want to live under pressure.
After hearing so many people's stories, Jiang hopes he and his loved ones can continue living happily.
Li Ren contributed to the story.