Every time I go to China, I feel a very complicated emotion.

On one hand, I marvel:
"China is really convenient."
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder:
"Who is bearing the burden for us?"
Ordering takeout at 2 a.m., delivered in twenty minutes;
Express delivery arrives earlier than people wake up;
Taxis are so cheap that drivers doubt their own lives;
Cleaning, repairs, errands, all at prices so low it feels like 2010.
Many people sum it all up with one phrase:
"China’s efficiency is really high."
But after staying a bit longer, you’ll slowly realize:
Sometimes, it’s not high efficiency,
but that “people are just too cheap.”
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1. Why is takeout so cheap?
Because someone is burning their life for you.
A takeout costing just a few dozen yuan, with three or four yuan delivery fee, arriving in half an hour.
Many are already used to this speed.
If it’s five minutes late, they even feel the platform has “regressed.”
But here’s the problem:
If this really were a profitable business, why do couriers generally work over 10 hours a day? Why do so many people deliver food while overexerting their bodies?
Because the so-called “Chinese-style convenience” often isn’t achieved through technology lowering costs, but through workers compressing their own lives.
French thinker Simone Weil said:
“Behind every cheap product, there’s an invisible worker.”
The most amazing thing about Chinese society is:
People feel sorry for the lower classes,
yet they desperately click “9.9 yuan free shipping.”
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2. The cheapest thing in China is actually “people.”
In many developed countries, labor is ridiculously expensive.
Plumbers charge hundreds of dollars per visit;
Moving house feels like hiring a private bodyguard;
Takeout delivered to your door costs enough for two hotpot meals in China.
Many people conclude:
“China is still better.”
But from another perspective:
Why is labor expensive in other countries?
Because workers earn higher wages, have more complete protections, and normal rest rights.
And the reason many industries in China are “cheap” is fundamentally because workers’ bargaining power is too weak.
So a very surreal scene appears:
Phones get more advanced,
High-speed trains get faster,
Platforms become smarter,
But ordinary people grow more exhausted.
Technology races forward,
While people are just “extending their lives.”
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3. The cost of “convenience” is that society becomes increasingly competitive.
Why can everything in China be sold at bargain prices?
Because everyone is desperately undercutting each other.
Businesses compete;
Platforms compete;
Couriers compete;
Drivers compete;
Even coffee is driven down to “9.9 yuan to save the world.”
In the end, consumers do feel good.
But the question is:
Who is actually making money?
Many industries have become absurdly competitive:
Bosses have no profits;
Employees have no lives;
Consumers have no future.
Only platform data looks better and better.
British writer George Orwell once said:
“Some systems are so powerful because they make people gradually get used to the unreasonable.”
Gradually, everyone begins to accept:
Overtime is normal,
Single days off are normal,
Unemployment at 35 is normal,
Riding through red lights is normal,
“Read but no reply, but instant reply to customers” is normal.
Society functions like a high-speed machine.
The only ones who need to adapt to the machine are the people.
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4. A truly advanced society isn’t “everything is cheap.”
Many people say after visiting China:
“China’s cost of living is low, happiness is high.”
But a more painful question is:
On whose sacrifice is this low cost built?
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said:
“No enterprise has the right to profit from poverty wages.”
But the reality is:
We’ve gradually become used to:
Delivery workers have no time to eat;
Couriers rush red lights in the rain;
Factories operate two 12-hour shifts;
Young people work 996 while worrying about unemployment.
And then everyone sighs together:
“China is really convenient.”
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So, every time I go to China, what’s most mixed feelings isn’t the prices.
It’s that you suddenly realize:
The “high efficiency” of this society often isn’t because everyone is better off.
It’s because some people are bearing the costs for the whole society with lower wages, longer hours, and fewer protections.
The city still lights up at night;
Takeout still arrives on time;
Only those rushing around are gradually worn down into “normal phenomena” by the system.
And the most ironic thing is:
While everyone is praising “convenience,”
Few people seriously ask:
“Is the person delivering the food doing well today?”