William Yang Profile picture
May 4 17 tweets 3 min read
"So I had to look for a new place to sleep. Sleeping under a bridge just comes naturally to us delivery riders - it can block out the wind and rain. I usually fall asleep immediately after lying down - I feel so tired by then!" #Shanghai bbc.com/news/world-asi…
"But after two nights there, around 2am, policemen on patrol saw me and chased me away. They said I should go to a homeless shelter. But I've tried and it's not open. Nobody was there, not even security guards."
"In the beginning I survived on dry instant noodles. Later a group of delivery riders found a restaurant that opened secretly and now we go there to buy takeaways."
"The police usually just ignore it. We do need a place to eat, right? Some shops also have an outdoor space where there are electrical sockets. We sneak over to charge our phones."
"There was a story going round that a delivery rider died on the streets after getting into a crash. Of course I worry that will happen to me too. But I've been very careful. I always go very slow."
"If I get into an accident in a remote area, it would be extremely dangerous. The biggest problem is if your scooter breaks down and there is no place to fix it. You can't work any more."
"In Shanghai, the pay we earn as riders is quite all right. But most riders only earn a few hundred yuan a day. And I don't think everyone can put up with such hardship, such living and working conditions.
But you know, if we weren't doing this, we wouldn't have any income either while under lockdown. That's stressful."
"People told me Shanghai is a developed city, better than my hometown. Now even my family is asking me to go home. They've all heard about the situation here. It's unimaginable that people can starve in Shanghai nowadays."
"I used to earn on average 4.5 yuan per order. But I don't take these orders anymore, nobody does, it's too low. These days I take orders privately from my clients, through chat groups. I can earn around 1,000 yuan a day."
"I see larger residential compounds doing group buys of food, but smaller compounds with just a dozen residents have nothing. It's so hard to get people to deliver things to them, it's also hard to order supplies in the first place.
Many elderly people also don't know how to do group buys. Orders with small quantities of food won't get delivered now. Fruit shops won't sell individual pieces of fruit any more - you have to buy in bulk now."
"Now we have no food and no water, and sleep on the streets. I know at least 40 riders in the same situation as me. There are delivery riders who work for companies which provide hotel rooms for them."
"My residential compound won't let me back in, they say it's likely I'll bring the virus back. I can't go home even if I test negative for Covid. I've been going to hospitals to get tested every day. I'm afraid of getting Covid - all the riders are afraid of it."
"So I just find a place to sleep outside. My feet stink so bad you can smell them from a distance! I'll shower eventually, maybe after the lockdown lifts."
"What's the point of resting at home anyway? The first week of the lockdown, I only got two cabbages. The second week I only received a box of medicine. Who can survive on that? What do I eat? It's better to be outside - at least I can still find some food."
"My family has been asking me to come back. But how can I get out now? People even got chased back into the city after driving out to the highway.

I'm just waiting for the lockdown to be lifted. I'll leave then. I don't know how much longer I can hold on for."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with William Yang

William Yang Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @WilliamYang120

May 5
A new study into #China’s state-run media outlets has exposed several instances of the proliferation of pro-Russia misinformation across numerous channels worldwide. news.com.au/technology/onl…
An analysis conducted by NewsGuard, an organisation dedicated to weeding out propaganda online, warned of the widespread impact Chinese-operated news channels have on social media.
Despite being banned in China, over half a billion users on Facebook now follow state-run outlets affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.
Read 10 tweets
May 5
A proposal to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States will likely be canceled due to the high price of the choppers, #Taiwan's Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said at a legislative session on Thursday. focustaiwan.tw/politics/20220…
The Navy was originally set to allocate NT$34 billion (US$1.15 billion) to buy 12 MH-60Rs to replace its aging anti-submarine choppers.
But a local defense expert in late February told local media that the U.S. State Department had rejected the proposal on the grounds that it "does not conform to the principle of asymmetric combat power."
Read 11 tweets
May 5
Security researchers said on Wednesday that Chinese government-linked hackers have tried to steal sensitive data from some three dozen manufacturing and technology firms in the US, Europe and Asia. edition.cnn.com/2022/05/04/pol…
"The hackers targeted blueprints for producing materials with broad applications to the pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors, according to Boston-based security firm Cybereason."
"The firm discovered the activity last year but said the hacking campaign dates to at least 2019, and it suggested that reams of data could have been stolen in the interim."
Read 13 tweets
May 5
"Foreign investors have begun to realise that #China is willing to take a significant economic hit rather than relinquish its commitment to its dynamic zero-Covid strategy or roll out the mRNA vaccines developed in the west." ft.com/content/abc71e…
"..in Xi Jinping’s #China politics overrides everything else. This extends even to the battle against Covid-19. The supreme leader has staked his personal reputation on China’s success in taming the pandemic, and avoiding the deaths and overwhelmed hospitals suffered elsewhere."
"Over the past few weeks, the chair of one of Asia’s largest private equity funds has complained privately that the economic impact of zero-Covid is real, and growing."
Read 14 tweets
May 5
"The shock over #China’s security deal with Solomon Islands is evidence of “a relationship failure” , New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister has said, confirming that the pact took New Zealand, Australia and other Pacific nations completely by surprise." theguardian.com/world/2022/may…
"The deal marks Beijing’s first known bilateral security agreement in the Pacific. While there had been some knowledge of overtures from Beijing to the Solomons on policing, the deal’s scope came as a surprise to officials in Australia, ...
... Aotearoa New Zealand and across the Pacific."
Read 22 tweets
May 5
"Much of Taiwanese cuisine has evolved from dishes brought by Han Chinese migrants, and as #Taiwan strives to define its cultural identity, chefs of Taiwanese heritage are trying to put their own stamp on New York’s food scene."
vice.com/en/article/akv…
"When it comes to food, however, Sze said it’s tough to define Taiwanese flavors partly because many of the ingredients are “at its core very Chinese,” like soy sauce and spicy soy bean paste."
"As Taiwanese cuisine grows in popularity, restaurants are still figuring out a core menu that screams Taiwanese.
Read 19 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(