A man shows his telegram form. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

After it was revealed that Hangzhou's telegram service will be discontinued on May 1, a wave of young people are rushing to experience it before it disappears for good.

Over the past few days, the telecommunications office at Wulin Square in Gongshu district was inundated with an average of 500 telegrams per day, with the recent Qingming Festival holiday seeing a staggering influx of nearly 2,000 telegrams over three days. The surge in users has left a backlog of 2,600 telegrams yet to be dispatched.

Among the enthusiasts is a young woman surnamed Jin. Upon learning about the impending closure of the telegram service on social media, she decided to bid farewell to her university days with a telegram. On April 7, she sent telegrams to four of her university friends at the telecommunications office at Wulin Square.

"Two of my friends already know I'm sending them telegrams, while the other two are unaware. I plan to surprise them," she said.

With the emergence of WeChat, video calls, and other modern technologies, the telegram, a communication method that has persisted for nearly 200 years, is now coming to an end. Beijing will be the sole provider of telegram services in the country.

A man writes a telegram to his friend in Beijing. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]