What is it like to deliver food in Chengdu?
Here’s roughly what you need to get started delivering food (full-time riders who wear uniforms for work need these; part-timers don’t):
A reliable electric scooter with sufficient battery range — most full-time riders currently use a battery-swapping service.
Helmet (mandatory. If you don’t wear one, just wait for the traffic police to pull you over.)
Food delivery insulated box (you’ll need a secure container for hot meals, drinks, etc.)
Charging cable (essential)
Bluetooth earbuds (essential — for taking calls or listening to Meituan app alerts while riding)
You can expect around ¥90 in 4 hours of work, which works out to roughly ¥10 per order. (In other words, the gross cost already going to the platform for a single order is over ¥10 — so if your ¥20 meal’s ingredients seem questionable, now you know why.)
How lavish are rich people’s takeout orders? A meal of stir-fried green pepper with pork, tomato and eggs, plus rice — ¥96.
