Audiobooks enjoy surge in popularity as their readers make their voices heard, Wang Ru reports.

Audiobooks are enjoying a blockbuster storyline with explosive growth, especially in the first quarter of 2020, according to a report. During the period, listeners tuned in to an average of 5.6 audiobooks, more than half of the total for last year, according to the report by podcast app Himalaya FM and Xinhua News Agency. Some of the most popular audiobooks, such as the classic novel titled Life by Lu Yao, have been listened to more than 100 million times.

According to another podcast app, Qingting FM, more than 5,000 voice performers have been signed up to read audiobooks.

Some are experienced professionals, but others, like Li Shijin, are people seeking new horizons.

Li, 30, didn't expect to make a living through his voice. A company salesman in Northeast China's Liaoning province, he tried to challenge himself by finding a part-time job as a wedding host to bolster his confidence.

Around Spring Festival in 2014 he had a bit of time on his hands and started listening to audiobooks. After being an avid listener for two years, he decided to give it a try and recorded himself reading books.

He did this for three months. Then, under the online name Shijin, he posted his first audiobook Youth Will Not Return on the online audio platform Qingting in 2016. It was listened to about 20 million times.

A year later, after he had read three audiobooks, he was signed up as a voice performer for Qingting. The platform then recommended books for Li to read. To improve his performance, Li attended a training course at Communication University of China to learn dubbing and how to write a play in 2018.

To date, he has completed nearly 30 works, including audiobooks and radio dramas on the platform.