'Chance encounter' with Xi at Beijing bun shop proves very hard to stomach

A few years ago, a young man walking along a street in Tianjin saw from afar then president Hu Jintao leading an inspection tour of the area. He was so excited he tried to call his friend on his mobile phone, but there was no signal. Only after Hu and his entourage left did the network signal return.

The person he had tried to call told me this story.

After news spread two weeks ago of Xi Jinping's visit to the Qingfeng steamed bun shop, I thought to myself that if the Tianjin story was true, I could understand why nobody could immediately post a message or a photo of Xi eating at the Beijing shop. In the photos and video clips released later, many people were seen taking snapshots of Xi or posing for a photo with him. But the first post emerged only an hour after his visit.

Now, however, two weeks have passed. Why haven't we seen more people posting text and photos of their encounter with the president?

Compared with the long lines of excited "pilgrims" queuing up outside the Qingfeng shop for a taste of the "Chairman's set meal", those lucky people who found themselves at the scene that day appeared unbelievably calm.

This kind of news is usually reported as a result of "chance encounters by ordinary netizens". In this case, official media widely cited a Weibo post by a "CCTV Commentator" that said: "'Bun + fried liver + vegetable" is a standard meal at Qingfeng; 'pay for the food + collect the food + eat the food' is the standard practice of ordinary citizens; 'meet by chance + take out mobile phone + send a post' is the standard modus operandi of Chinese netizens".