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Videos, cartoons animate public
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BABAOFAN is a traditional dessert consisting of eight treasures rice pudding with red bean paste and nuts. It also refers to the fan club of former Premier Wen Jiabao, as the character Bao from his first name is included, and the word fan in Chinese is often used as its English meaning.
Shijinfan, a type of fried rice with a variety of different ingredients, is another fan club for former President Hu Jintao, as seen from the character Jin. And those who admired both leaders combined the two and called themselves Shijin Ba Bao Fan, the variety eight treasures fan.
These terms were particularly popular on the Internet in 2008, leading up to the Olympic Games, when public acknowledgement and admiration for the two kept growing. It was also the first time that Chinese leaders earned nicknames and fan clubs.
In early 2013, the public was surprised again at the site of a cartoon and animation exhibition in Hangzhou, where cartoon images of various national leaders from Chairman Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping were publicly exhibited, another first in China.
The pictures, drawn by local Zhejiang painter Zhu Zizun, encapsulate and pinpoint important moments and unique features of each leader.
For example, Chairman Mao is shown in his most recognized posture waving his hands, while Deng is holding two cats — black and white — which resonates with his famous quote about catching rats.
Xi is shown with a stamp inside a cage, reflecting on his quote about caging the power and his anti-corruption campaign, which has gone far beyond what was expected by many and is the major reason for his wide popularity among the public.
At the end of 2013, the public presentation of national leaders got laddered up again, when a 5-minute video, available in both Chinese and English editions, was posted on streaming sites like China’s Youku and America’s YouTube, showing Mao, Deng, Jiang and Xi in animated images.
The video, posted by the anonymous Road to Revival, summarizes and compares how one becomes the top leader in the US, the UK and China by showing how the animated figures of US President Barrack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese President Xi Jinping moved their way up.
The animated Xi is seen hopping up ladders from township to province level, a typical route that Chinese officials take to show their capabilities. Many netizens were shocked by the well-made video, especially the fact current and past top leaders can be shown in such forms, and wondered about who Road to Revival was.
The video maker and poster have never revealed their identities, but many others have followed to make similar animated images or videos showing a more contemporary, digital and sometimes even cute image of China’s leaders.
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