Wang Jibing, a delivery rider who turned to literary writing after decades of manual labour, has been awarded the Lu Xun Literary Prize for his collection 'Low Flight'. The poems, written between deliveries and based on interviews with around 200 fellow riders, examine the pressures and frustrations inherent in gig-economy work. At 56, Wang's path to recognition involved years of posting work on social media before a viral poem about a frustrating delivery job in 2022 brought him wider attention.

His win exemplifies a broader cultural phenomenon in China in which blue-collar workers are increasingly being recognised for literature that documents their lived experience. Other examples include a courier's memoir that became a national bestseller and a migrant worker's autobiographical essay that swept the internet. These works appear to resonate with audiences seeking authentic accounts of contemporary Chinese working life and the systemic pressures workers encounter.