Drones are working alongside farmers in the fields of Xindu District, Chengdu City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, racing against time to pick fresh spring vegetables and deliver them directly from farm to table.
Unlike in the past, these vegetables no longer wait for people or vehicles. They are delivered straight to small 'airports' set up in the fields. Waiting drones have become the first leg of this fresh produce relay.
"'Pick and deliver' is especially suitable for small-batch orders that require timeliness and freshness. It enables rapid transfer," said Gou Senlin, head of the low-altitude economy team at Sichuan Liuhang Agriculture Co., Ltd.
Loaded with spring vegetables, the drones fly a direct route of four kilometers and land precisely at the sorting center just five minutes later. Workers immediately begin sorting and packing, and by noon, these spring vegetable packages are loaded onto express trucks bound for destinations across China, arriving the same day within Sichuan and the next day outside the province.
"This 'air express line' captures the most valuable freshness window for agricultural products and makes for our modern order-based agriculture, characterized by small batches, multiple shipments, and high efficiency," said Mao Zaiyou, deputy section chief of logistics development and integrated transport at the Xindu District Transport Bureau.
According to the company, a four-kilometer drone flight costs about 15 to 20 yuan (two to three U.S. dollars), and each drone can carry up to 30 kilograms.
"This spring vegetable season, we have already completed 90,000 orders," said Gou.
Since forming its drone team last year, the company has expanded its business from Xindu to several surrounding counties and cities, with 80 percent of its services now supporting agriculture. From crop protection and seeding to transportation, drones are becoming integral to every stage of farming.
So far, Chengdu has attracted over 500 companies in the low-altitude economy sector, with its low-altitude aircraft products achieving full coverage from the 10-kilogram class to the ton class.
"To advance agricultural modernization, we are promoting the integration of technology by combining drones with the Internet of Things and big data, achieving full traceability from field to table and ensuring greater freshness. These 'flying new farm tools' will be key to developing new quality productive forces in agriculture during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030)," said Li Yunfei, director of the Agricultural Mechanization Division at Chengdu's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau.
Drones deliver fresh vegetables from farm to table in Chengdu
As the conflict in the Gaza Strip enters its third year, Palestinians are facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis marked by widespread destruction, severe shortages, and systemic displacement.
Amid the widespread destruction, they are navigating their individual stories of loss, injury, and displacement as they are struggling to rebuild their lives.
Before the conflict which erupted in October 2023, painting was Areej Al-Saafin's passion. However, her brother was killed and her family home was damaged. Al-Saafin and her mother are among the more than 174,000 Palestinians wounded in the war. Having lost one eye, the artist said the trauma has profoundly changed her perspective and her craft.
"As a woman in Gaza, I am destroyed psychologically and physically. I no longer have the same passion as before. Physically, I lost my eye, and I can't focus on painting like I used to," Al-Saafin said.
While large parts of Gaza have been reduced to rubble, some residents are finding their ways to restart their businesses amid the destruction. In eastern Gaza City, Basel Al-Batsh operates a small recycling workshop, producing parts that have become increasingly difficult to obtain due to closed crossings. His own factory was destroyed in the war, forcing him to start over with fewer resources.
"We collect aluminum from the rubble of destroyed homes and recycle it into parts that are no longer allowed into Gaza through the closed crossings, such as generator components and spare parts for cars and trucks," Al-Batsh said.
For others, rebuilding means regaining basic mobility. Omar Halawa was twelve when an Israeli airstrike cost him his right leg. Now thirteen, he is among thousands of war-related amputees in a territory which the United Nations says is home to the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history. Halawa is still waiting for a suitable prosthetic leg.
"I dream of living a good life in a safe place and getting a prosthetic leg so I can walk normally, play football with my friends and go swimming," Halawa said.
Meanwhile, some women who lost limbs in the conflict have begun their journey back to the football pitch. On a field in central Gaza, young women train on crutches as part of Palestine's first women's amputee football team. Among them is 24-year-old Rozan Khaira, a former runner.
"I joined the team because I was already an athlete. Sports have been part of my life since childhood, and my family is also very athletic. Losing my leg will not stop me from pursuing my dreams and favorite hobbies," Khaira said.
The war has taken a massive toll on the younger generation, with more than 21,000 Palestinian children killed since the conflict began. For some displaced children, recovery is taking the form of music. Inside temporary learning spaces, they are finding a different sound from the war around them, using music to learn, play, and feel like children again. Ghazal Abu Jibba is learning to play the violin.
"We now come every day because the music makes us feel better, especially given the conditions we are living through. We want the war to end so that we, as children, can live in peace and safety," Abu Jibba said.
Across the devastated enclave, tens of millions of tonnes of rubble remain, standing in the way of reconstruction. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump's vision of turning Gaza into what he called the "Riviera of the Middle East", a plan linked to the relocation of Palestinians, has met widespread rejection. Despite the ruins, many remain determined to stay on their land.
After three years of war, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed, and most of Gaza's homes have been destroyed or damaged. Yet amid the loss and pain, Gazans continue to rebuild their lives, holding on to the hope for a better future.
Palestinians in Gaza struggling to rebuild their lives amid widespread destruction
