Mark Zuckerberg's Jog In Beijing Smog Sets Fire To Chinese Social Media

When a shot of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg jogging Friday through Beijing's thick smog was posted on Chinese media, it erupted into an outpouring of amusing comments in their social media.

Mark Zuckerberg is quite a hit in China, even though Facebook, along with overseas social media platforms is banned by the authorities. He has also become infamous among the Chinese for trying to win over leaders who are enforcing China's strict online censorship.

He has visited Beijing in order to drop into an economic forum.

He put up a shot of him running through Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden City Imperial Palace behind him. But none of the joggers wore the face masks.

"It's great to be back in Beijing! I kicked off my visit with a run through Tiananmen Square, past the Forbidden City and over to the Temple of Heaven," Mr. Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook, likely using a virtual private network to get around the Chinese government Internet filters, which block his site.

The air pollution index in the hazardous zone was at 15 times the safe level specified by the World Health Organization. Outdoor activities on such polluted days are forbidden.

Was his statement a subtle compliment to the Chinese authorities, who are fighting and claiming to win the air pollution, wondered some users.

"Kissing up?" commented Tom Wang, a Chinese environmentalist. He again posted the photograph of the global jogger and then included a graphic showing Beijing's air quality readings Friday morning.

Journalist and runner Peng Yuanwen had another quip. He said that Zuckerberg's lungs had filtered the Chinese air, as it cleared by afternoon.

"The human-flesh smog vacuum is better when it's American-made," teased Peng.

Beijing residents joke that they "filter the city's air with their lungs by inhaling harmful particles."

The famous jog also took Zuckerberg right through the famous Tiananmen Square, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese students had collected in 1989 to fight for democracy, many of whom were killed in the wee hours of June 4 as troops and tanks swept in and bulldozed resistance, killing a number of protestors.