He said that his most frightening moments were walking in mountains alone at night, when all he could hear was the sound of the wind and his own footsteps.

Wang's wife, Gao Runfan, said that her husband worked too hard and went through many pairs of shoes and socks during the course of his career.

Over the past three decades or so, Wang has walked more than 300,000 km. His son, Wang Yuntian, remembers that he rarely saw his father, who left home early and came back late.

"If the post bag was at home, my father was at home. That was the easiest way to find him," he said.

The young man studied computer science at college. But at his father's insistence, he also became a postman after graduation.

Now, he handles more e-commerce parcels.

Wang Yuntian applied to join the Party in May. He said his father told him that if a person can do one job well all his life, he is a good man. And if that job can serve others, he is a great man.