Zhao Yue is creative director of Panda Mandy's Slow Delivery, a start-up, snail-paced postal service that is the perfect antidote to today's hectic world.
Where did this idea come from?
Last summer one of our founders was in the ancient town of Lijiang (in Yunnan province ) and saw a rundown post office. She poked around and came across some old postcards. She was the only customer and the smell of the room reminded her of the 1980s. Time seemed to freeze. She decided to sit down on a shaky bench and write three of us, and herself, a postcard.
She flew back to Beijing the next day and resumed her fast-paced life. The trip to Lijiang faded in her memory. Then a month later, the postcards arrived. She held hers with both hands and read it. The memories - sweet and sour - came flowing back. We met at a bar one night after work and she told us about the little post office and its incredible inefficiency.
She did not blame it at all and in fact felt quite grateful as the postcard had helped her slow down and remember some beautiful bits of life she had not paid attention to.
We all agreed, because receiving a postcard sent by a close friend from the past is special. Our discussion gradually heated up: so many things could have happened in one month.