Parcels, robots and your hotel's front desk

Two things visitors notice in the first week and then can't imagine travelling without. Neither is essential. Both save an hour somewhere. (The third one — shared bikes — gets its own guide, because it changes how you move around a city rather than just saving you an errand: Shared bikes in China.)

1. Online shopping finds your hotel

Ordering online and having it arrive at the hotel works, and it works the same way it does at home — put the hotel's name and address in as the delivery address, and use the phone number at the front desk if the form insists on a local one. The one rule: tell the front desk first. Most hotels accept parcels happily and some hold hundreds a day; a few don't accept them at all, and finding that out after you've ordered means a parcel sitting at a pickup point across town. Ask at check-in, in one sentence.

Delivery in cities is measured in hours, not days, and food delivery runs on the same principle: the apps work off photos, you pay inside the app you already set up, and the rider finds your hotel.

2. The robot that brings it up

In a growing number of Chinese hotels, the delivery doesn't come to your door by human. It arrives at the front desk, a wheeled robot carries it into the lift and up to your floor, phones your room, and waits while you enter a code to open its compartment. No tip, no interaction, no awkwardness at midnight.

Not every hotel has one — it's mostly mid-range and larger chains — so check the facilities list if the idea delights you, and don't book a hotel for it. Where a robot isn't available, the front desk just calls you to collect.