
Sometimes the most impressive talent comes from the most ordinary people, as one Chinese builder proves.

Shi Shenwei, a brick carrier from central China, has stunned the social media with his super-toned body and incredible fitness routine.

By filming himself pulling off eye-opening stunts on scaffolding, the 23-year-old man has transformed himself from a construction worker transporting 4,000 bricks a day to an online sensation attracting more than one million screaming fans.

Shi Shenwei pulls a wheelbarrow at the construction site of a Buddhist temple in Huangshan village, near Quanzhou, China

The 23-year-old man, better known as 'brick carrier Xiao Wei', is a social media star with more than one million followers

Shi became famous for filming himself doing pull-ups and push-ups on constructions sites before sharing the footage online

Shi, a brick carrier from central China, has stunned the social media with his super-toned body and incredible fitness routine

By filming himself working out, Shi is no longer just a construction worker transporting 4,000 bricks a day

Shi, better known as 'brick carrier Xiao Wei', is a typical farm-to-fame social media star thanks to the quick popularisation of smartphones in rural China.

Born in a small village near the city of Daye in Hubei Province, the 5ft 5in man grew up in a family of construction workers, according to a report by cnhubei.com.

Most people from his village, Long Jiaoshan, make a living by constructing fake ancient buildings in big Chinese cities.

Internet changed Shi's life for the first time when he was studying at middle school in his hometown - he became obsessed with online gaming.

The muscular man said in an interview with China Youth Daily that he was so addicted to the 'digital heroin' that he would play video games non-stop from 8pm to 6am every day in some of his teenage years.

He said when he was studying at a boarding school, aged around 15, he and his 11 roommates would sneak out of their dormitory at midnight to play games at a nearby internet cafe.

Self-taught fitness fanatic Shi performs a high bar routine on a scaffolding at the construction site near Quanzhou city

Born in a small village near the city of Daye in Hubei Province, the 5ft 5in man grew up in a family of construction workers

Sweat runs down the temple of Shi Shenwei as he works at the construction site of a Buddhist temple in Huangshan village

Smartphone has changed the fate of Shi after he used it to film himself working out and to upload the footage to social media

Shi Shenwei hands a bucket of cement to a colleague in the shell of a Buddhist temple in the village of Huangshan

Having graduated from middle school, timid Shi followed his carpenter uncle, Shi Lijia, to work on construction sites in cities. He was paid 2,000 yuan (£243) a month for transporting bucket after bucket of cement by hand.

'Whenever I was working, doing some sort of small jobs at the construction site, I felt extremely tired. I couldn't take it,' Shi said.

Shi became determined to make a name for himself when his girlfriend broke up with him four years ago because he was too poor, he recalled.

The hard-working man wanted to turn over a new leaf.

He said: 'I wanted to change myself. On the internet I saw a workout video and I thought that person did a great routine.'

So Shi followed suit.

Last spring, Shi posted a video of him doing handstand push-ups onto Kuaishou, a video-sharing platform in China.

The footage was heavily promoted by the app gathering thousands of fans for Shi daily - his fate was once again changed by the internet.

Shi (left) listens to his uncle and boss Shi Lijia (right) in an old farm house that serves as dormitory for workers in Huangshan

Shi pushes a wheelbarrow of bricks at the construction site. The man says he transports 3,000 to 5,000 bricks a day

Shi's co-workers says he works out everyday when other were having lunch or had gone back to the dormitory

Shi and and a colleague fill a wheelbarrow with bricks at the construction site in Fujian's Huangshan village

During a work break, Shi performs a high bar routine on a scaffolding at the construction site in Huangshan village

Shi's quick rising to fame is partially caused by the popularisation of smartphones in rural China. He is seen using his phone

Raindrops run down the back of Shi Shenwei as he works at the construction site carrying thousands of bricks a day

With his lean build and six pack, Shi has now attracted 1.1 million followers on Kuaishou, and has already been invited to perform on several major Chinese talent shows.

Using the building site around him as his playground, the young migrant worker does not require the formal equipment one might find at an average gym - instead, bricks serve as dumbbells and the maze of scaffolding as high bars.

In one recently filmed footage, Shi was seen swiftly pulling himself up onto the scaffolding during a lunch break.

He swung into action, performing a high-bar routine in front of his dutiful cousin, who filmed from multiple angles using various smartphones.

'While other people are eating and singing karaoke, I'm whole-heartedly focused on what I want to do,' Shi said.

Shi said his trademark combination of flips, jumps, and stands were all self-taught, and mostly imitations of videos he had seen online.

Mobile phones are piled up at a construction site in Huangshan village to be used to record a high bar routine of Shi

Shi yawns after waking up in a colleague's room in an old farm house doubled up as the workers' dormitory in Huangshan

Fitness trainer Bi Zhenbo looks at a video of a high bar routine by Shi Shenwei at a gym in Beijing, China

Shi and his grandmother prepare breakfast in the kitchen of an old farm house that serves as dormitory in Huangshan

Shi and his colleagues and family members eat dinner in the yard of an old farm house where they use as their dormitory

Shi said his trademark combination of flips, jumps, and stands were all self-taught. He is seen brushing his teeth in his dorm

His colleagues, many of whom were relatives, said Shi was unlike anyone else they had seen; and that he worked out when other were having lunch or had gone back to the dormitory.

His 55-year-old carpenter uncle and boss, Shi Lijia, said: 'You can put it this way - exercise is a good thing, this way you can keep your body fit.'

He added: 'But working out at a construction site? Most places don't allow this... Most people wouldn't (do this) - it's too dangerous.'

In China, the major upsurge of internet broadcast apps and the availability of smart phones has led to the discovery of talents like Shi, who has gained admiration from gymnasts, fitness junkies and bodybuilders alike.

Shi edits a video of his workout routine on his phone before uploading it onto Kuaishou, a video-sharing site

Shi uses his phone in a colleague's room in an old farm house in the village of Huangshan near his construction site