A Stevie Wonder fan in China thought he was being clever when he asked a friend to box him up and ship him via courier service to his girlfriend's office as a romantic joke.

But the gag become a bit too literal when the couriers got the address wrong, and Hu Seng ended up almost dying after three hours inside a box with no air holes.

The "gift" finally arrived at the intended destination, but Hu had already passed out and paramedics were called to resuscitate him.

"I didn't realise it would take so long," he told a local news outlet. "I tried to make a hole in the cardboard but it was too thick and I didn't want to spoil the surprise by shouting."

The courier firm said if they had known a person was inside the box they would not have accepted the job.

[photo via Shutterstock]