Postman Wu Lei is not sure how many stamps he has put on the commemorative covers issued for the Party congress, but the brace around his right middle finger speaks volumes.

Since Sunday, the young man and several of his colleagues have been providing postal services to more than 1,000 delegates staying at a hotel in the western part of Beijing. And sales of the commemorative covers have been brisk.

"We have sold at least 70,000 of them so far," Wu said yesterday.

"Some delegates have already purchased several hundred of the covers, and one person even bought a batch of 1,000."

The China National Philatelic Corporation issued the cover for the first day (with a face value of 2.4 yuan) and accompanying commemorative cover (with a face value of 6 yuan) at the start of the congress.

Chongqing delegate Ran Yuanzhi recently bought 30 commemorative covers, adding to the many he had previously purchased.

"They are the best souvenir of the congress. I want to send them to my colleagues and friends. The postmark of October 15 has made it more meaningful," she said.

In addition to the postal service, delegates staying at the hotel can also do some shopping at several temporary discount book and clothing booths that have been set up for them.

More than 1,000 different books, most of them about history and sociology, are available at the booth. However, book sales have paled in comparison to the commemorative covers.

Bookstore manager He Ganghuan said he had sold about 2,800 yuan ($370) worth of books over the past few days.

"The delegates are busy attending meetings right now and don't have enough time to have a look. I suppose the business will pick up just before they leave," he said.

Caterer Li Wei has also been kept busy by his duties during the congress. He has been staying at the hotel since the congress started because he has little time to return home.

He said one of the biggest challenges of his work is preparing dishes that suit all of the delegates' tastes.

Li said more than 100 chefs had been tasked with preparing the delegates' meals, plus midnight snacks. Some of them start work at 4:30 am.

All of the day's ingredients are delivered at 8 am by special suppliers that were appointed by the congress.

All of the food is served buffet-style, featuring 10 main dishes, 10 side dishes, salads and deserts. Peking roast duck and other local favorites have proven a hit.

Each delegation has its own banquet hall for eating, allowing the chefs to make slight variations to the food to suit the delegates' tastes.

And the hotel's hairdressers are working as hard as the catering staff, providing free services to nearly 20 delegates a day.

"Most of them are between the ages of 30 and 50. Everyone wants to look smart at the meeting. It's natural," Li Hua, a hairdresser, said.

(China Daily October 18, 2007)