'Chinese People Can Fly': Rural Inventor Builds Green Goblin's Glider

"Chinese people can fly!"

Comments like that poured in after Song Xingyu posted footage of himself on a homemade flying board, skimming over the Yangtze River and weaving through a mountain gorge.

Some viewers asked where the "AI-generated" label was. Others recognized the design at once. It was modeled on the glider the Green Goblin rides in Spider-Man, something Song had wanted since he was a boy.

Song, known online as "Amazing Ayu," grew up in rural Badong County, Hubei Province, with few toys. When he was six, his mother brought home a space shuttle model another child had thrown away. It was his first model. It stayed with him.

Later he started building aircraft of his own. He had little money, so he collected foam-board offcuts from advertising shops and used old electronic parts that other hobbyists gave him. It took nearly two years to get his first model off the ground.

In 2022, he borrowed 19,000 yuan (US$2,840) from his father to buy a used truck and moved back home. He took out another loan to turn an old family workshop into a lab. A video of the renovation got tens of thousands of likes. People wanted to watch him build things.

The projects got bigger. In 2024, he sent a homemade model shuttle up beneath helium balloons. It crashed, but its camera had already filmed the curve of the Earth from 40,000 meters.

Months later, he jumped from a helicopter wearing a jet-powered wing, fireworks trailing behind him. His main parachute failed. The reserve opened about 600 meters above the ground. In September 2025, he hung a furnished living room under a hot-air balloon and fried eggs in it.

Not all of it went well. After an aircraft crash and a failed boat project, Song said, he borrowed money to compensate the people involved. He now owes more than 2.4 million yuan.

The flying board had its own setbacks. The first version ran on five jet engines and caught fire in testing, burning through its wiring and fuel lines. Song fed the test data to an AI agent. It found that hot exhaust was bouncing off the ground and getting sucked back into the engines, and it suggested he switch to electric propellers.

The new board flew, but staying on it was hard. The slightest lean threw it off balance. Song fitted one phone inside the board to track its tilt and strapped another to his wrist. In the air, the AI spoke to him through an earpiece, telling him when his weight drifted or which knee to bend.

After more than 10 days of practice, he took it over the Yangtze during the National Day holiday. He had notified the authorities beforehand, Jimu News reported.

The video got nearly 4 million likes on Douyin. "Coolest invention I've seen all year, hands down," one user wrote. Others compared it to riding a flying sword in a Chinese fantasy novel. "A scene from my dreams just came true," another wrote.

Some still doubted the footage. Song said the flight scenes were real, not AI-generated. AI company StepFun supported the project.

The video also brought fresh attention to an earlier deal. In December 2025, camera maker Insta360 gave Song 1.8 million yuan through its Think Bold fund, the company told Shanghai Securities News. On October 20, Insta360 shares closed up 8.97 percent at 102 yuan.

Insta360 said it had sponsored a creator, not invested in a flying board. The money is not an equity stake, and the company has no plans to make the boards.

His parents mostly want him to come home in one piece. His father told Jimu News they back his dreams but worry about the risks.

Song isn't done. "I'm still experimenting and filming," he told Jimu News. "I hope to fly higher."