A young construction worker has shot to fame on the internet after videos of him performing death-defying acrobatics on construction site equipment wowed Chinese netizens.

Xiao Wei, from Dazhi in?Central China's Hubei province, uploaded many videos on his personal account on Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, of himself performing moves that would put some of China's gymnasts to shame.

He demonstrates amazing balance, flexibility and strength in the clips as he twirls, climbs and?swings sometimes dozens of feet?from the ground. But instead of using a horizontal bar, he makes use of scaffolding poles at his worksite.

The clips have been shared thousands of times on Weibo and his acrobatic feats are so impressive that some netizens wondered why he had chosen a life as a construction worker, earning a relatively low wage.

In one video he uploaded to his personal account, Xiao Wei admitted that he was extremely shy when talking to people, and would only try to perform when his workmates were not around. His strange phobia was why he did not become a gym coach.

Xiao Wei performs on scaffolding poles. [Photo/Weibo]