'Uncle Flatbread' latest internet sensation
Updated: 2011-07-07 21:00
By Yan Weijue (chinadaily.com.cn)
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Litahong works in his booth in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, July 7, 2011. [Photo/CFP] |
A photo of a good-looking flatbread maker has created a frenzy on China's twitter-like Weibo service, catapulting the figure - a 22-year-old Xinjiang native - to overnight fame.
Curly haired, whiskered and with a brooding air, Litahong (or "Uncle Flatbread" as microbloggers have been calling him) has been compared to renowned Asian movie stars like Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Litahong currently makes a living operating a flatbread booth in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. Life is tough as he only sleeps for three hours a day inside the booth and earns a monthly salary of around 5,000 yuan, of which 2,000 yuan has to be paid in rent.
He is reported to have decided to return to his hometown - Yengisar county in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region - to get married in August, when his brother will take over the business.
The case of a John Doe coming under the spotlight occurs on an irregular basis in China, as netizens develop an interest in hyping up the ordinary. Still in Ningbo in March 2010, a homeless man wandering in street was suddenly noticed and quickly discussed in the cyber world for his "sharp sense of dressing", despite having collected all his clothes from garbage cans.