A Drone Delivered Iced Matcha to Me on a Hot Day in a Park

The midsummer, late-afternoon sun in southern China takes no prisoners. Even in the shade of a tree, I was rapidly wilting in the 104-degree Fahrenheit heat and wishing for an iced beverage.

So I ordered one for delivery – by drone. 

Granted, it took 40 minutes to reach me in the middle of Shenzhen Bay Park. At the same time, could I have walked to a store, bought one and returned to my spot on the grass? Sure, but where’s the fun in that? And did I mention the heat?

Shenzhen’s drone delivery is something of a novelty, and seems to appeal more to tourists and visitors than locals in this technologically advanced city. But I was a tourist – one who has for many years been skeptical about delivery drones, particularly when it comes to operating in built-up areas. I felt compelled to test the service for myself.

For some people, drone delivery might already feel like nothing special or unusual. Amazon, Walmart and Uber Eats are all gradually expanding drone delivery across the US right now, adding new neighborhoods all the time. The idea is that it solves that last-mile problem, speeding up the time it takes to get your order from the local fulfillment center or restaurant to your doorstep.

Drone delivery in Shenzhen is run by Meituan, China’s answer to Uber Eats or Doordash, neither of which are available inside the country’s homegrown app ecosystem. It’s not currently designed to deliver to people’s homes. Instead, there are various points around the city that drones can deliver to – big yellow booths that the aerial vehicles can land on top of before depositing the goods inside.

My first attempt to order drone delivery, three days earlier, was a bust. I scanned the QR code on one of the booths, which opened the Meituan mini app inside WeChat. But I quickly realized that to use this service, I’d need to have a Chinese phone number.

Following a trip to a China Mobile store, I found myself back in the same spot and gasping for refreshment.

This time I was armed and ready. A variety of vendors were available to order from, including KFC. But I’d just eaten a big dim sum lunch, and needed a long cool drink. I ordered from cult favorite Chinese milk tea store Hey Tea, which is also available in many locations in the US and the UK – including in my hometown of Edinburgh.

I opted for an iced matcha with Hey Tea’s signature sweet and salty cheese cloud topping (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it), along with a lime tea for my friend. This cost $5.36, with the added packing and delivery costs bringing the total to $6.93. I was impressed at the low price for the service. I’d expected to pay significantly more, and would happily have forked over double for that level of convenience.

Then came the wait. I watched as drones lined up in the sky to deliver other people’s food and drink packages. I couldn’t see exactly where they were coming from, but there was clearly a predetermined flight path the drones used to approach, and a separate one for departing. They all kept a safe distance from one another and seemed to understand their place in the landing queue.

When my turn finally arrived, I got a notification with a code for the lockbox on the front of the booth. I watched my drone lower itself slowly, its six rotors buzzing gently, and deposit my drinks through the roof. I couldn’t see exactly what was going on up there, as the booth was about twice my height, but it looked to me like the drone actually landed on the roof, before releasing the package into a hole.

All of the packages are exactly the same size to make things easy. They consist of yellow and white boxes, inside which are the goods. Retrieving it was as simple as inputting the code into the screen on the front booth, triggering doors to open. From there I simply lifted out the box. Next to the booth was a bin for recycling the packaging, with an attached shelf for unpacking the goods.

In spite of its aerial adventure, my Hey Tea hadn’t been shaken up too much by the ride. The milk, matcha and foam were all still in distinct layers, which is not what happens when I order one at home through Uber Eats.

There seem to be mixed opinions online about whether Shenzhen’s drone delivery is just a gimmick. Whether or not it is, I’d argue that it puts the “proof” in proof of concept as to whether drone delivery can be safely achieved in a densely packed, high-rise city. I might have been in the park when I ordered, but the drone clearly had originated from somewhere in the tall buildings nearby.

Someday, drone delivery may become unremarkable and mundane for all of us. For now, it remains a bit of fun – and hugely convenient for hot, lazy days in city parks.

Editors’ note: Katie Collins’ travel costs were covered by Honor. The judgments and opinions of CNET are our own.

Katie Collins

Principal Writer

Katie is a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET’s European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET’s Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a “living synth” by London’s Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.

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