专业跑腿公司 "你动嘴 我跑腿"

近年来，一批“有事您动嘴，办事我跑腿”的专业跑腿公司纷纷落户各大城市。但是，跑腿公司数量虽然多，真正“跑”起来的却比较少， 究竟该往哪里“跑”这是关键。

On a lovely spring day or on leisurely occasions, waiting in line or running errands may not seem so tedious. But waiting in Beijing with the rest of what sometimes feels like millions of people in scorching heat or perhaps in the rain can really sour a good mood.

In China, since everyone has the same exact public holidays, many people fear and loathe getting travel tickets. Zhao Lifan lives in Beijing but is from Xian and says he wishes this was one task he could avoid.

"I have so many memories about long lines, but the most dreadful memory should be waiting in line for a train ticket. Because I have to get back home, when spring festival comes, every winter vacation you need to wait in a really really long lines to get tickets. That's very stressful experience. I don't think I would like that anymore, so if I had a chance to get this service I would definitely do it."

Chen Wenlu from Beijing says his moment of sheer exasperation arrived last year while visiting China's World Expo held in Shanghai.

"A lot of students all over China were taking their summer vacation. My god, there were a lot of people in Shanghai and that was a terrible experience for me. And when I arrived at the Expo Park, and I was really shocked by the sea of people. And they had umbrellas to prevent the sun and waiting for their turn. At that time, it was really summer, it was burning outside, you can't imagine. I stayed in line for more than two or three hours. I felt almost killed by the sun."

We've all been there and would gladly have had someone take our place. Maybe it's not decadence after all, maybe it just makes sense?

Whatever it is, professional errand agencies started popping up with 24 hour services to make life easier. Queuing fees start at 20 Yuan or about 3 dollars an hour and go up to around 200 for twenty-four hours. This gave Wu Zhijian, the founder of Chengxinfuyin Paotui agency an idea.

"I noticed there are Paotui Agencies in Beijing five or six years ago, but I had another job at that time. At the end of last year, I had some savings in hand and was eager to start my own business, so I wanted to try my hand at this. I'm really familiar with Beijing and I know how big it is. It's common to take 2 or even 3 hours if you want to go to somewhere in the city. I figure I can help people who don't have time to deal with it. In a way, I am also contributing to society."

But errands are the main focus of these agencies and delivery charges start at 10 Yuan. They add on extra time, expense fees, but they will pick up hot food, pay your utilities, and provide courier services. They'll even go drop off a friend's birthday present.

Feimaotui Paotui Agency started last year in Beijing. Mr Hu, one of the professional Pao-tui-ers says they are trying to build their company by providing a range of services.

"Paotui is a new concept and not so well known by the public. People still immediately think of delivery services and not always about us. We're still new so we don't have many orders and we only have around ten employees. The majority of our customers are companies who need delivery service. Others are people who want us to help queue up and check in at the hospital or get them train or air tickets".

In China, people wait in lines at the public hospital for hours sometimes just to get an appointment number and forms to see the doctor. The Paotui services will wait, and then call when the number is up, saving many parents uncomfortable hours with a sick child in the waiting room.

Customers can pay online for some services using sites like Baixin, Zhifubao or Taobao and Wu says they prefer this method because it's safer.

"If we had an agreement on a price, say 80 Yuan, the customer can save money on Zhifubao first. After we finish our job, the customer will confirm and the money can be transferred into our account online. Zhifubao ensures our agreement and we have credibility online. That's the way we ensure payment."

Hu explains that unfortunately, not everyone is honest about payment.

"We once got an order wanting us to help check in at Beida Hospital. We honor credibility so we helped pay the fee first. The next morning, that customer claimed to be on the way, but at the time of his appointment, he didn't show up."

However, Hu says he enjoys the job because it's laid back generally without a lot of pressure. Wu Zijian is pretty hopeful for the future of his business and says he's happy even though it's not making him rich.

As for us, we can be glad some business savvy souls have taken the art-or annoyance of waiting- and made a trade of it. It's hard to believe no one thought of it before.

For CRI, I'm Andrea Hunt.