Rooftops in Beijing, spaces that once went unnoticed, are drawing fresh attention now as the metropolis begins to tap their business potential.
In Beijing, every square meter counts.
The city is no stranger to world-famous landmarks. But increasingly, visitors and locals alike are looking for something beyond the usual sightseeing, and they're finding it one floor up.
Canran Bookstore has stood in central Beijing for decades.
Locals drop by for coffee, reading, or a quiet break. The owner renovated a few years ago to make room for more readers.
"Our bookstore was quite small. During a 2023 renovation, we added a rooftop terrace, expanding the space from 130 to 260 square meters," said Wu Wei, manager of the bookstore under Zhonghua Book Company.
Hidden in one of Beijing's busiest neighborhoods, the bookstore has found an unexpected attraction, its second-floor terrace.
The terrace now hosts reading sessions, flower-arranging workshops, and small events, bringing in a whole new crowd.
"It's definitely a different atmosphere from being inside. Sitting here and looking out at the historic buildings just feels wonderful," said Jiang Xiaoxiao, a consumer.
Today, the rooftop is just as popular as the shelves below.
"The Dongcheng District Government's campaign to promote terrace businesses has brought in customers who come specifically for the terraces. We've also seen more young visitors," said Wu.
Such terraces are giving visitors another way to experience the city while creating new business for local shops.
The Dongcheng District Government has linked more than 300 terrace spaces along the Central Axis with hotels and tourist sites.
From bookstores and cafés to restaurants, terraces are breathing new life into old spaces.
Beijing's rooftop terraces draw crowds beyond landmarks
China's postal and express delivery industry is being revolutionized by advanced technologies such as smart warehousing, automated sorting, and unmanned delivery systems.
In Zhenning County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, local honey plums are currently in peak production and sales season. Express delivery companies have partnered with fruit growers, directly entering the orchards for sorting and packaging.
Utilizing drones and shuttles, these companies have created an integrated delivery system that combines picking and sorting with direct dispatch. This innovation addresses previous challenges, such as farmers transporting goods down steep mountains, excessive transfers, and significant product loss.
"Once the fruit is packed by farmers, drones first transport the plums to a collection point at the mountain's base, after which trucks take them to a sorting center for dispatch. This allows Zhenning honey plums picked and packaged the same day to be shipped out by drone, establishing a rapid fresh-fruit transport channel," said Lai Junnan, a drone specialist from a local logistics company.
To tackle inefficiencies like time-consuming sorting and delays from secondary redistribution, express delivery companies have deployed intelligent automated sorting vehicles, established dedicated shipping routes, and enhanced direct links to airports.
"The automated sorting vehicles operate on six shipping routes that send items directly to the corresponding airports for quick distribution. These direct routes have significantly reduced our sorting time compared to previous years -- we've cut it by more than half a day," said Liu Banglei, business director of a local logistics company.
Meanwhile, the introduction of unmanned vehicles has significantly reduced delivery times, especially in rural and remote areas.
"Our area used to be quite remote, and packages often arrived late. However, since we started using unmanned vehicles, delivery times have improved significantly. Now we can pick up our parcels by noon -- it's much faster than before," said Li Hongbao, a resident of Pingchuan Town, Linze County northwest China's Gansu Province.
Unmanned delivery vehicles are now deployed daily in over 200 cities to transport parcels, with drones handling nearly four million items each year. Many large sorting centers have fully automated operations, while smart warehouses utilize flying-ladder and pallet-moving robots for precise picking.
Once packaged, parcels enter an automated system for weighing, scanning, and bagging, completing the process in as little as 15 minutes. Electronic waybills have achieved full coverage, and over 95 percent of trunk-line vehicles are equipped with Beidou satellite navigation systems.
These advancements in information technology are enhancing efficiency, increasing successful delivery rates, and boosting user satisfaction each year.
Technology transforms China's delivery industry
