China's Leaders Get an Official Online Fan Club

From Lin Yang:

It is hard to imagine Chinese state leaders embraced by fanatic fans like movie stars and pop icons. From Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese president was to be admired and worshiped from a distance. But the "assorted eight treasures rice pudding" is changing it all.

Combining one character from each of the names of the Chinese president and premier, the "rice pudding", a.k.a. "Shijin-Babao Fan," is a punning nickname used by fans of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. They are scattered across Internet bulletin boards, and address the top leaders as "Brother Hu" and "Baobao."

Sounds disrespectful? Not if it's approved by the People's Daily. On Sep. 4th, the most authoritative official press outlet launched a fan club page for Hu and Wen on its website, and in four days' time over 80,000 people have signed up, obtaining an electronic passport issued by the site certifying their status as an official "Shijin Babao Fan." The overwhelming traffic even temporarily brought down the web server.

"Now we are out of the closet and finally accepted as official fans!" celebrated one post on the website. Although the People's Daily fan page hardly stands out in its design or content, the significance lies in its effort to endear the ruling powers to the ordinary people. Popular support has not always mattered that much in Chinese politics, but now it seems the president needs us too.

It also brings an interesting question to mind—does this mean we are going to have more top officials who are willing to interact and be less mysterious, or do we have to satisfy ourselves with Brother Hu and Baobao Wen? I've read comments on the People's Daily fan site saying that although they support Hu and Wen 100%, they do not feel the same way about other members in the politburo. Are we going to have more top leaders who are willing to be called by their nicknames?