China's Food Delivery Rider Wins Country's Top Literary Recognition For Poems Penned Between Orders

Published 20 July 2026 · india

China's Food Delivery Rider Wins Country's Top Literary Recognition For Poems Penned Between Orders Published By, Last Updated: July 20, 2026, 14:24 IST Chinese food

China's Food Delivery Rider Wins Country's Top Literary Recognition For Poems Penned Between Orders Published By, Last Updated: July 20, 2026, 14:24 IST Chinese food delivery rider Wang Jibing has won the prestigious Lu Xun Literary Prize for his poetry collection Low Flight, inspired by the lives of gig workers, BBC reported. Wang Jibing, a food delivery rider from China, has won the Lu Xun Literary Prize for his poetry collection Low Flight, inspired by the everyday lives of gig workers (AI-generated image/News18) A Chinese food delivery rider who turned his everyday experiences on the job into poetry has won one of the country’s highest literary honours, according to a report by the BBC. Wang Jibing, 56, was awarded the prestigious Lu Xun Literary Prize for his poetry collection Low Flight, a work inspired by the struggles, aspirations and resilience of food delivery workers in China’s rapidly expanding gig economy. Named after celebrated Chinese writer Lu Xun, the award is regarded as one of the country’s top literary recognitions. According to the BBC, Wang began working as a food delivery rider around 2019 after spending decades doing various odd jobs. Despite his demanding work schedule, he continued writing poems and essays, often jotting down ideas on small slips of paper while waiting between deliveries.

Over time, his writings gained popularity on Chinese social media, eventually earning him national recognition. Speaking after the award was announced, Wang admitted he had been anxious while waiting for the results. “I held my breath and felt extremely nervous. Once it was revealed, everything was settled," Wang told China’s state-run Global Times, as quoted by the BBC. He also acknowledged that the growing media attention had placed considerable mental pressure on him. Born in Jiangsu province, Wang was forced to leave school as a teenager because of financial difficulties. Over the years, he worked in construction, collected recyclable waste and sold goods at street stalls before taking up food delivery. Throughout those years, however, he never gave up his love for literature and regularly shared his poems and essays online. The BBC reported that Wang first attracted widespread attention in 2022 when his poem Man in a Hurry went viral. The poem was inspired by a frustrating delivery in 2019, during which he spent hours trying to locate a customer after receiving an incorrect address. The popularity of the poem eventually led to the publication of his first poetry collection, Man in a Hurry: Poems of a Food Delivery Rider, in 2023. His latest collection, Low Flight, published in 2024, draws from interviews and conversations with around 200 fellow delivery riders.