This is what may become a weekly feature on Danwei: a look at the most important story or stories of the week as seen by China’s highly excitable and mostly under-30 netizens.
Study hard and ignore the leaders
Doing the rounds on forums is ‘The most awesome girl in the history of Beihang University’ which has been popular on BBS’s this week.
On December 20 Premier Wen Jiabao visited students to reassure them about unemployment at Beihang University’s postgraduate library. But there was one girl who remained with her back to the Premier. What was she doing?
The general consensus is that she was studying hard and not aware of the Premier’s presence. A translation of the summary from the Southern Metropolis Daily article:
Premier Wen came into the midst of the Beihang University students discreetly, which fully showed that the Premier was trying to be an ordinary citizen. The female university student studying with her back to the Premier certainly proved this. The student has received praise because of her studious spirit. It shows that she has the independent qualities which is lacking in modern Chinese society.
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Boxing day is also Chairman Mao’s birthday
In other leadership news: Today, to mark the birthday of Chairman Mao, a Sohu forum thread proposes to establish the day as a national holiday.
The post has already been viewed 168,719 times with 2,482 replies, including one which said, “Westerners are celebrating Christmas － are you looking for a reason to have a holiday at this time?”
- Daqi.com uses a Southern Metropolis Daily article for the post (Chinese): Beihang University girl: you are the best!
- Sohu.com forum (Chinese): BBS thread － National holiday for Chairman Mao’s birthday.