For years, Shenzhen resident Elaine Kong made money by ferrying goods from Hong Kong into the China. Each weekend, she would cross the border and buy up crates of infant formula, Lancôme eye cream, and other products that were pricey or hard to find on China, and then sell them on at a profit after returning home.
多年来，深圳居民Elaine Kong靠从香港向中国内地运送货物赚钱。每个周末，她都会穿过边境，买下成箱的婴儿配方奶粉、兰蔻眼霜，以及其他在大陆价格昂贵或很难找到的产品，回到内地后再把它们卖出去赚钱。
Now, as China finally eases travel restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls, Kong is making regular trips across the Hong Kong border once again. But this time, she is carrying products in the opposite direction.
现在，在经过三年的严格疫情控制后，中国终于放松了旅行限制，Elaine Kong再次定期穿越香港内地边境。但这一次，她带着产品走向了相反的方向。
For the past few weeks, the 30-year-old has been buying trendy snacks and bubble tea in Shenzhen, and then delivering them to clients in Hong Kong. The demand from Hong Kongers and Chinese students in the city has been astonishing, Kong says. She has already made dozens of trips and handed over more than 100 items.
过去几周，30岁的她一直在深圳购买时尚零食和奶茶，然后把它们送到香港的客户手中。香港人和在港内地学生的需求令人震惊。她已经穿行边境数十次，交出了100多件物品。
Many Chinese professional shoppers, or daigou, have jumped on this same trend since the Hong Kong border reopened in early 2023. Shuttling goods from Shenzhen into Hong Kong has become so common, the phrase “reverse daigou” has become a buzzword — and a symbol of how much has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic first erupted.
自2023年初香港边境重新开放以来，许多中国专业购物者或代购也加入了这一趋势。从深圳往返香港的货物已经变得如此普遍，“反向代购”已经成为一个流行词，也象征着自新冠肺炎大流行首次爆发以来发生的巨大变化。
Before 2020, the daigou trade was a massive industry in China. Around 1 million Chinese were said to be employed as daigou, who primarily made money by bringing foreign products into China.
在2020年之前，代购贸易是中国的一个庞大产业。据说大约有100万中国人从事代购工作，代购主要通过把外国产品带到中国来赚钱。
In some cases, daigou helped Chinese avoid high import taxes on luxury goods. Other times, they helped them access products that weren't available in Chinese stores, such as certain foreign cosmetics or baby formula.
在某些情况下，代购帮助内地人规避奢侈品的高额进口税。还有一些时候，他们帮助他们购买一些在内地商店买不到的产品，比如某些外国化妆品或婴儿配方奶粉。
Then came COVID. As countries around the world imposed travel bans, shuttered shopping malls, and canceled international flights, the daigou trade went into a deep freeze.
然后新冠肺炎来了。随着世界各国实施旅行禁令，关闭购物中心，取消国际航班，代购贸易陷入深度冻结。
The industry has never recovered. With China retaining travel restrictions for three years, Chinese consumers found other ways to source overseas goods. More and more international and Hong Kong brands have set up stores on Chinese e-commerce platforms Tmall and JD.com.
该行业从未复苏。随着中国旅行限制持续了三年，内地消费者找到了其他途径采购海外商品。越来越多的国际和香港品牌在中国电商平台天猫和京东开设了门店。
Meanwhile, the tighter border checks that China introduced during the pandemic have remained in place. When Hong Kong fully relaxed travel restrictions in February, daigou found that their former business was no longer viable.
与此同时，中国在疫情期间实施的更严格的边境检查仍在继续。今年2月，当香港全面放松旅游限制时，代购发现他们以前的业务不再可行。
For this reason, many Chinese are starting to explore the “reverse daigou” trade. Since late February, hundreds of reverse daigou ads have been posted on social platforms including Facebook and Xiaohongshu.
因此，许多中国人开始探索“反向代购”贸易。自2月底以来，Facebook和小红书等社交平台上已经发布了数百条反向代购广告。
They appear to be attracting plenty of customers. There are a huge variety of trendy snacks in China — known as wanghong meishi, or “viral cuisine” — that are hard to find across the border in Hong Kong.
他们似乎吸引了大量的顾客。中国大陆有种类繁多的流行小吃——被称为网红美食——在香港很难找到。
Bubble tea from Yidiandian, Master Bao's pastries, and specialty products from Alibaba's Hema supermarkets or Walmart's Sam's Club stores are all reportedly popular choices for reverse daigou.
据报道，一点点奶茶、鲍师傅糕点、阿里巴巴盒马鲜生超市和沃尔玛山姆会员商店的特色产品都是反向代购的热门选择。
The handover usually takes place at a station along the Hong Kong metro's East Rail Line, which runs from the border to Hong Kong Island, so the daigou don't have to exit the metro and pay for an extra ticket.
交接通常在香港地铁东铁线沿线的一个车站进行，这条线从边境到香港岛，所以代购们不必出地铁，也不用额外买票。
The profit margin for these reverse daigou deliveries is small: Customers often pay just 15 yuan per bubble tea delivery, three daigou involved in the trade told Sixth Tone. But the daigou say it also has a number of advantages compared with their former business.
这些反向代购的利润空间很小：三名参与这一行业的代购告诉第六声，顾客通常只需要支付15元一杯奶茶的费用。但代购们表示，与他们以前的业务相比，现在的代购也有很多优势。
First, the daigou can make use of the fast and super-cheap delivery services on China. Whenever a client in Hong Kong makes an order, the daigou can quickly get the snack delivered to their homes in Shenzhen. This means they no longer have to run from one store to another, as they did when they were buying up goods in Hong Kong.
首先，代购可以利用大陆快速和超级便宜的送货服务。只要香港客户下单，代购就能迅速将零食送到深圳的家中。这意味着他们不再需要像在香港购物时那样从一家店跑到另一家店。
Second, daigou no longer have to make large upfront purchases of goods. Now, the clients place the order and pay for the delivery in advance.
其次，代购不再需要预先购买大量商品。现在，客户下订单并提前支付运费。
Third, it is far easier to bring things from Shenzhen into Hong Kong than the other way around. Although Hong Kong restricts food imports, the border inspections are very lenient, Kong said.
第三，从深圳到香港要比从香港到深圳容易得多。孔说，虽然香港限制食品进口，但边境检查非常宽松。
Kong now works five hours a day delivering snacks, earning around 300 yuan. She considers it the perfect job for her at the moment, as she has two young children and doesn't have time to work a full-time job.
孔泉现在每天工作5个小时送零食，收入约300元。她认为这是目前最适合她的工作，因为她有两个年幼的孩子，没有时间做全职工作。
But she is also worried that if the reverse daigou business becomes too big and formalized, it could create complex legal issues that will eat into her profits.
但她也担心，如果反向代购业务变得过于庞大和正规化，可能会引发复杂的法律问题，从而侵蚀她的利润。