Dedicated worker overcomes challenges of remote mountain routes

Zhang Linchang is no ordinary postman.

The 55-year-old has to trek dozens of kilometers every day on foot, negotiating dense forests and dangerous paths to deliver letters and parcels to inaccessible villages in the mountains of Guizhou province.

Over the past three decades, Zhang has come across snakes, boars, yellow weasels and other wild animals in the line of duty as he trudged along valley riverbanks and crossed streams to reach the villages.

Zhang is the only postman in Jinping township, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, where the postal service is severely limited because of the steep mountain paths and the scattered population.

He started the job after being discharged from military service in 1987. "Before I took the job, I was told that no one was able to stick to it for more than three years as the 90-km postal route is dangerous and intimidating," he said.

His postal round covers 200 square kilometers and 23 villages, and it takes him four days to deliver all the mail. To make his job possible, Zhang puts the mail into two large bags, which he attaches to the ends of a yoke that he carries across his back.

Without anyone to keep him company, he said keeping boredom at bay was a major problem he had to deal with. "I can't be any happier when I come across a bunch of villagers who I can talk to for a while after walking by myself for half a day," he said. "They often invite me for tea and food at their homes."

When it gets dark, he asks the local township government or villagers if he can stay the night before setting off early in the morning.

Accidents will happen

Navigating steep, rugged trails－even when it's rainy, windy or snowy－means accidents are an occupational hazard.

On a wet afternoon in September 2005, Zhang, was rushing to deliver a heavy parcel to Miaohou village when he slipped and rolled down a 30-meter slope.

He had three front teeth knocked out after his face hit a rock and splattered it with blood. Zhang said his lips were swollen like two thick pieces of toast and he almost fainted from the pain. But it was getting dark and he didn't want to be alone in the wild as it was too risky.

Enduring the severe pain, Zhang picked up the letters scattered around the blood-stained rock and kept walking until he arrived at the village.

While most postal workers would be given time to recuperate after such an ordeal, there was no substitute to do Zhang's job.

"If I had taken leave, who would have delivered letters for the 25,000 villagers?," he said. "No one wanted to take the risk of going into the wild. So, I chose not to take leave."

At the end of that year he was ordered to have his teeth fixed, when the county director of the State Post Bureau saw Zhang's mangled mouth. In order to ensure the mail was delivered, Zhang requested that a dentist treat him at home so he didn't have to travel to a city for the dental work.

Similar accidents have been repeated over the decades, but Zhang has never considered quitting his job.

Well aware of the dangers, he worries about children who travel the same paths as he does when they go to school. Zhang has adjusted his schedule so he can escort some of the students to school in the morning and back home in the afternoon.

"I am a veteran, I have experienced training in the melting pot of the army. I joined the Party when I was in the army. I will not forget the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly. I will continue to move forward until the day I can't walk," he said.