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Medog County has nearly 15,000 residents and was the last place in China to be connected by road. Since food delivery services began in Aug. 2024, Huang has become the link connecting daily life in the isolated community, according to the South China Morning Post.

Before moving to Tibet, the 24-year-old worked at a factory in Suzhou City, China. Huang, who is from Sichuan, said he could not sit still and found the assembly line environment suffocating for someone raised in mountainous areas.

In July 2024, Huang decided to relocate after learning that Medog needed someone to establish a delivery system for Alibaba’s food delivery service Taobao Shangou. He transported his motorcycle and basic necessities on a small truck and traveled more than eight hours through mountain passes to begin a new life.

At the beginning, Huang rode his motorcycle to map routes and introduce the service to locals. He visited more than 300 local businesses to explain online delivery though many were skeptical. Some restaurant owners only agreed after he returned four times. More than 70 shops in the county have since joined the platform.

Huang said natural disasters, rather than loneliness, pose the biggest challenge. Medog has a rainy season that lasts about six months, making mountain roads muddy and slippery. He said that after repeated falls that damaged his clothes, he would get up, check his bike and continued delivering.

While delivery drivers in Beijing or Shanghai typically complete 40-60 orders a day, Huang delivers about 200. Despite high maintenance costs and physical demands, he said he is satisfied with the job.

“I enjoy the wind on the road and the money I earn from each order keeps me grounded,” he said.

Due to the limited workforce, Huang is also station manager, business operator and mediator for minor disputes.

Huang has become a familiar face among food vendors in Medog, and a part-time rider recently joined to support his work. One local restaurant owner said his revenue rose 30% after delivery services started in Medog.

His story has drawn more than two million views on Chinese social media, according to news outlet AsiaOne.

“If you ask me whether I’m lonely, I would say I’ve grown accustomed to it, I was born like this,” Huang said.

In his free time, he rides to nearby waterfalls and snow-capped peaks or calls his grandmother at home.