Postie treads perilous path while delivering mail

TAIYUAN－For nearly two decades, a thin, tanned postal worker could often be seen carrying packages along a narrow mountain trail in the Taihang Mountains.

The 10-kilometer-long route, which is between 20 centimeters and 1 meter wide, is known as the "cat road" by locals, meaning that it is so narrow, that only cats could walk on it. However, Zhao Yuefang, a postal worker in Ewu township in Huguan county, Shanxi province, had to walk the route on a daily basis to deliver mail.

In 1996, the then 23-year-old Zhao got the job to be a postal worker, responsible for deliveries to people in the 18 villages of mountainous Ewu township.

Every day at the crack of dawn, he would start his journey along the "cat road", which first took him down the mountain to the post office in Qiaoshang township to pick up the day's post, before returning along the same route to Ewu post office to sort the mail before delivering it to villagers.

It took Zhao four days to reach all the villages. During rainy and snowy seasons, he always returned home late at night as the mountain road, part of which hugs the cliffs, would become slippery and dangerous.

One day in the winter of 2003, the "cat road" was covered in thick snow and Zhao slipped off a narrow section of the road.

Fortunately, he was able to stop his dangerous descent by grabbing a nearby tree branch and was slowly able to climb to safety.

Born and raised in the deep mountains, Zhao understands the importance of mail deliveries to villagers. "They depend on the mail to keep in touch with the outside world," he said.

"They would get excited to receive letters, parcels and newspapers and some of the villagers offered me noodles or water to express their gratitude. Those moments made me really happy," he added.