No matter what kind of complaints you may have, one great advantage to living in China has always been a cheap and convenient courier delivery system for online shopping. But instead of having things delivered straight to your door, consumers will now be forced to conduct their "retail therapy" by visiting a traditional brick-and-mortar store.

READ: Beijing's Best Delivery Services, Pt. 2: Groceries and Alcohol

Under the new guidelines, you will no longer be able to use home delivery services to get cigarettes and liquor delivered to you door. Cigarettes supplies are now limited to just two cartons, while all booze is banned from home courier services.

But as with all things China, there may be a way to circumvent this problem.

Online wine retailers will likely only be affected by the new rules depending on the way they deliver their products. If the retailer provides their own delivery service instead of relying upon a third-party courier, meaning that they are a local retailer, you can probably still have their alcohol delivered to your door.

At the same time, the courier delivery ban also extends to a host of other items such as blood products and disposable lighters. Animal parts belonging to endangered animals such as rhinoceros horn, tiger bones, and ivory products are also prohibited from being delivered.

Beside online shopping, tourists hoping to mail home purchases made from abroad will also likely be adversely impacted by the new rules.

Another provision of the courier service ban will forbid the delivery of any "counterfeit products" such as knock-off books and audio visual recordings.

Implemented last month, the new rules will increase the list of prohibited items from 58 to 188, And yet, online retailers are still selling products that consumers aren't allowed to receive by courier, such as pepper spray (which is classified as an illegal weapon in China).

When asked about this contradiction, the Taiyuan Municipal Consumer Association simply suggests for consumers to hang onto their receipts.

And it is not likely these home courier services will be willing to bend the rules. Violators of the new rules face maximum fines of RMB 500,000 (USD 72,700).

Colloquially known as kuaidi, China's home delivery service have faced tough times before. In 2015, all home deliveries in Beijing faced a security crackdown ahead of its military parade. The same year, Global Times accused the courier package industry for enabling much of China's drug trafficking, noting that 86 percent of the 1,007 kilograms of illegal drugs seized by Shanghai police in 2014 were transported using courier services.

But the toughest times seem to lie ahead for the floundering industry. Chinese reports say a large number of courier workers are quitting an industry where they are overworked and underpaid at the same time online shopping platforms are furiously competing against each other in massive buying splurges like Singles' Day.

Chen Feng, who operates a kuaidi service in Wuhan, told the Daily Economic News that his workers can only earn less than half the RMB 10,000 (USD 1,454) salary made by people doing the same job in first-tier cities such as Beijing.

"Before, you could make 450 yuan for making 300 deliveries every day at 1.5 yuan each," said Chen. "Nowadays, you make 540 yuan for doing 600 deliveries but at just 0.9 yuan each. Business has sharply increased, but so has costs and labor. With the cost of gasoline so high, how can you afford to drive?"

As kuaidi workers ask the tough questions, Beijing expats affected by the ban may be wondering where to go from here.

More stories from this author here.

Twitter: @Sinopath

Images: Yesky, China, Kedo