November 23, 2025 02:21 PM IST
First published on: Nov 23, 2025 at 02:20 PM IST
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When the contest crossed 33 hours and 9 minutes, only three competitors remained. (Representational image/Pexels)
A 23-year-old man in northern China was the last man standing in a “lying flat competition” after staying on a mattress for 33 hours and 35 minutes, according to a report by the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, cited by South China Morning Post.
The event, held on 15 November at a shopping centre in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, was sponsored by a domestic mattress brand, SCMP reported. Its title borrowed from the popular slang term “lying flat” (tang ping): a mindset often adopted by many young Chinese who feel weighed down by social pressure and a difficult job market.
The trend promotes doing just the bare minimum instead of pursuing relentless hard work.
Organisers told SCMP that contestants could win only if they stayed on the mattress without sitting up, leaving the bed or going to the toilet. Participants were allowed to turn over, read, use their phones, and even order takeaway to eat while lying down.
Most contestants reportedly wore diapers to avoid toilet breaks.
Hundreds participated, only one endured
About 240 people signed up, but 186 quit within a day, SCMP said.
When the contest crossed 33 hours and 9 minutes, only three competitors remained. To increase the difficulty, organisers asked the last three participants to raise their arms and legs at the same time. The contestant who could maintain the movement the longest would win.
“My girlfriend sent me a link to the competition and suggested I have a go,” he told the newspaper. “I did not prepare much. In the middle of the competition, I thought of giving up. But my girlfriend encouraged me to carry on.”
The top three winners earned 3,000 yuan (US $420), 2,000 yuan, and 1,000 yuan respectively, reported SCMP.
The winner said he planned to use his prize money to treat friends to a hotpot dinner after they visited him mid-competition with food and drinks.
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When the contest crossed 33 hours and 9 minutes, only three competitors remained. (Representational image/Pexels) 
