Face masks have appeared on statues around Beijing’s Peking University in an apparent bid to protect them from the smog engulfing the city.
With no end in sight for China’s pollution crisis, one student with a sense of humour used the same masks worn by many residents to filter out the fumes, the popular Shanghaist blog notes.The student’s work has attracted attention on Chinese social networking site Weibo, where members are flexing their creative muscles to comment on the smog. Much to the amusement of Chinese bloggers, another Weibo user created a portrait of Mao Zedong complete with an anti-smog face mask that has now gone viral on Chinese websites.
Another joker claimed he had his picture taken with Chinese president Xi Jinping, when he made a much-publicised – and mask-free – visit to a popular Beijing tourist area. But, as the South China Morning Post reports, when users clicked through to the picture, nothing is visible except a thick wall of smog. – BBC News
