A while ago when Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, I wrote a blog to explain why it was unlikely for him to pick the latter as his running mate. I used "handsome" to describe him, and one of the responses was "What? Do you consider Obama handsome?"

Sure, I think he is a good-looking guy. But soon I was drowned out in the debate as more and more people joined my challenger and questioned my aesthetic wisdom.

So, I tried to think from the perspective of an ordinary Chinese netizen, without the knowledge of Obama's eloquence, poise or his insight on race relations. He may not be as eye-catching as Denzel Washington, but he can certainly score pretty high on the point of physical attractiveness.