Moving on with the times

It is among six other post offices with themes in Chaoyang, which is Beijing's largest district by both area and population, and has 11 major China Post branches. The smaller ones are in the dozens. At least two to three of the district's post offices might follow in the same path each year, in the coming years, Li Hongyan, a top China Post official of the district, says.

At some distance from the downtown, to the city's northwestern side, stands another post office that was remodeled in 2011 after China successfully launched its first space station Tiangong-1. Yang Liwei, the country's first astronaut in space, made an appearance at the opening ceremony of this new-look post office.

It has witnessed much activity since, owing to an acceleration of China's space program.

The 2012-13 Shenzhou missions, for instance, resulted in the "blessings from space" campaign: an instant hit among ordinary Chinese whose letters and messages on postcards were e-mailed to astronauts. The writers could then collect printed copies of their "space-returned" mail at the post office for just 30 yuan a piece and 3.5 yuan for an accompanying envelope.

The space-themed post office's earnings at the time were higher than the monthly average of 10,000-20,000 yuan, Min Zenglu, director, China Post's Xibeiwang branch, says.

"People are generally more excited by manned missions," he says of the postal campaign's popularity during Shenzhou's spaceflights.

Last year, China's lunar rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, which toured the moon's surface, found itself hundreds of thousands of followers on Chinese micro blog Weibo, where it still has a dedicated account. And offline, the Chang'e lunar series, under which Yutu was launched, inspired the production of a whole set of postal stationary.

On an average, this post office in Haidian district, handles 20 parcels and small amounts of letter mail daily, according to Min, the 54-year-old official in charge.

"Traditional business has gone down, but this is a way to move forward," Hu Baifeng, a publicity official from China Post's Haidian branch, says.