Tsunami of parcels inundate Chinese universities with students unable to move baggage due to Covid restrictions

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Chinese universities are battling with an enormous influx of parcels as students return to campus because of coronavirus rules that make it difficult for them to transport personal belongings themselves.

Photographs of drop-off points shared to social media show hundreds of rows of boxes waiting to be claimed as well as parcels piled high outside university buildings.

Administrators at Jian Qiao University in Shanghai explained that the tidal wave of parcels their campus experienced came about as a result of Covid-19 rules that make it difficult for private vehicles to approach student housing, according to The South China Morning Post.

Students are believed to have had their belongings shipped to them or else have bought new items to furnish their rooms while the campus remains sealed off to prevent a virus outbreak. The resulting ‘parcel ocean’ blocked roads throughout the area, the paper reported.

Student took to social media site Weibo to express their disbelief with the enormous piles of boxes surrounding their university.

“When I arrived at the pickup station, I was shocked by the number of parcels. It was laughable,” one wrote.

“There’s no place to put your feet,” another wrote, adding that trying to claim parcels was like entering a “battlefield”.

Other universities in China have also experienced influxes of parcels. Chen Sheng, a deliver manager in the city of Ningbo, responsible for sending packages to eight colleges in the Zhejiang province, told the Ningbo Evening News that he had sent off at least 5,000 parcels a day in September — more than double the usual amount.

A fourth-year student at Zhejiang Wanli University told the paper that he sent his things to the university because delivery services are inexpensive and “more convenient than moving things myself”.

China has responded to Covid-19 outbreaks with localised testing and lockdowns. In August, millions of residents including in Beijing were confined to their homes after the Delta variant reached more than 20 cities.