That's one way to get your post: Couriers resort to riding HORSES after electric tricycles are banned in Chinese city

  • Couriers in Inner Mongolia, China, used horses to deliver mail this week
  • Demand was high after over $14billion was spent during 'Single's Day' sale
  • Photos of the unusual delivery method was a hit on Chinese social media

By Gabriel Samuels For Mailonline

Published: 06:08 EST, 13 November 2015 | Updated: 06:19 EST, 13 November 2015

Customers waiting eagerly for their parcel deliveries were not left disappointed after inventive Chinese couriers evaded one city's tricycle ban and delivered packages on horseback instead.

Delivery men in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, north China, were dismayed last month when the government decided that three-wheeled electric tricycles, their preferred mode of transport, should be removed from roads.

However, quick thinking couriers brought in a fleet of horses to help them navigate the city this week, according to People's Daily Online.

Inventive: Couriers in Hohhot, north China, have reacted to a controversial ban of their three-wheeled tricycles

Inventive: Couriers in Hohhot, north China, have reacted to a controversial ban of their three-wheeled tricycles

Spectacle: members of the public look on as delivery men brandish their colourful banners on horseback

Spectacle: members of the public look on as delivery men brandish their colourful banners on horseback

The plucky delivery men brandished banners along with their heavy rucksacks, to indicate the service that they were providing to the public.

Photographs of their valiant efforts to dodge busy traffic have become a hit on China's social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, after customers' late delivery fears were quelled.

'We applied for a dozen horses from a pasture when learning about the traffic regulation last month,' commented the manager of the online shopping store Sunning. 

The horses were particularly useful for China's Single's Day Sale this week.  

Couriers and mail staff across China had their work cut out during the 'Single's Day Sale', as consumers splurged $14.3billion on online purchases in just 24 hours on November 11.

The online retailer Alibaba said it had some 1.7 million staff working on providing deliveries, along with 400,000 vehicles.

In China, the delivering of goods on horseback is said to be a tradition that dates back nearly 3,000 years, to around 800BC. 

Desperate times: With $14.3billion spent during 'Single's Day' sales, demand for delivery men was enormous

Desperate times: With $14.3billion spent during 'Single's Day' sales, demand for delivery men was enormous

Heroic: a defiant courier dodges busy traffic, as pictures of their antics become a viral hit on social media

Heroic: a defiant courier dodges busy traffic, as pictures of their antics become a viral hit on social media

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