Thousands of state-backed “gig stations” have sprung up across China, linking workers - many older and shut out of stable jobs - to low-paid manual work. This piece focuses on those pushed into it, rather than those drawn to the broader gig economy. SHANGHAI: Before dawn in Xinqiao, a town on Shanghai’s southwestern fringe, hundreds of people gather outside a nondescript building, pressing against metal railings. Mostly in their 50s and 60s, they stand shoulder to shoulder in the dark, lit by