Alibaba Beats Amazon to Drone Delivery

As if holding the world's largest IPO wasn't enough,Alibaba is now beating Amazon in the drone delivery game.

The Chinese e-commerce company said on its blog that it has began a three day drone delivery test to deliver a special type of tea purchased through its Taobao division. Customers must live within a one-hour quadcopter flight of Alibaba's warehouses in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Some 450 customers are expected to be treated to drone delivery during the pilot, which ends Friday.

Amazon's Drones Will Be as 'Normal as Seeing Mail Trucks'

Amazon Plans Drone Delivery Service

Why Google Just Bought A Drone Company

A video posted online shows the tea-carrying drones flying high above the busy city until landing outside a residential building where the package can be collected by a customer.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has for years shared his plan for Amazon to implement a drone delivery service, saying that one day the flying vehicles may be as common as seeing a mail truck.

Despite Amazon's tremendous push ahead in testing the drones, the company has been limited to private testing due to FAA restrictions on commercial drones.