Special-edition SF Express boxes featuring illustrations of cultural relics from Zhejiang are on display in Zhejiang province on May 6. [Photo/Tide News]

The Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism, in collaboration with SF Express, launched a courier packaging initiative on May 6.

The newly designed document envelopes feature ten core cultural symbols of Zhejiang — including Song Dynasty (960-1279) aesthetics and Liangzhu culture (3300-2300 BC) — turning everyday shipments into "mobile museums".

More than one billion of these packages are expected to travel to over 190 countries and regions, serving as cultural "postcards" from Zhejiang to the world.

These special packages will gradually replace standard SF Express envelopes for shipments originating in Zhejiang, with no change in cost to users.

Stacks of SF Express envelopes printed with images of Zhejiang's cultural artifacts are prepared for delivery. [Photo/Tide News]

This initiative is part of Zhejiang's larger "Cultural Gene Activation Project", launched in 2024. It identifies 10 foundational strands of provincial culture — such as Yue State (907-978) traditions, Southern Confucianism, and the legacy of the Yellow Emperor — to build a cohesive regional identity — one rooted in millennia of history.

Each cultural marker is paired with representative relics and refined interpretive text to capture the essence of Zhejiang's contributions to Chinese civilization.

The Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism is using the high-frequency and high-reach nature of express delivery as a cultural medium, said an official from the department.

Every signed delivery marks a symbolic cultural arrival, he added.