Bun’s rush: Petitioners make their point at Xi’s dumpling restaurant

January 12, 2014 Leave a comment

Bun’s rush: Petitioners make their point at Xi’s dumpling restaurant

Staff Reporter

2014-01-07

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Petitioners hold banners in front of the store, Jan. 7. (Internet photo)

The Qingfeng steamed dumpling shop still buzzing from the presence of China’s president Xi Jinping — who by himself ordered and ate at the Beijing branch last week — has attracted a different kind of energy. Now petitioners across China have found a new hub for lobbing complaints at the government, reports Duowei News, a US-based news outlet run by overseas Chinese.Photos of Xi lining up and paying for his own meal at the famous shop sent China’s blogosphere into meltdown when they first appeared on Dec. 28. State media grabbed the opportunity to proclaim the leader’s connection with the common people, displayed through his adept ordering, paying, sitting and eating of the buns and intestine soup without assistance.

Petitioners, meanwhile, sniffed out a high-profile media opportunity and have begun waving banners in front of the shop, hoping to draw attention to the corruption of local officials in their respective districts. The petitioners photographed their protests and uploaded the photos onto the internet.

Some Chinese internet users have criticized the reports on Xi’s buns and said the Chinese government should spend more energy on improving people’s standard of living. The more opportunistic of them would like to see the “approved by Xi” branding extended to domestically produced sausages and milk powder, a surefire kickstart to demand against the ongoing battle against foreign counterparts and food scares.

Filed under Life, Macro Trends

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