Anyone seen Lei Feng?

The front page of the Guizhou Metropolis Daily today features a large photo of Lei Feng, with the headline: “Who has seen him?”

The article says the whole city of Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, has mobilized in search of the true ‘Lei Fengs’ among them. Lei Feng was a Mao era soldier who was held up as a selfless and modest person and posthumously became the subject of a massive propaganda campaign: ‘Learn from Comrade Lei Feng’ (向雷锋同志学习). Lei Feng often features in various propaganda campaigns.

Now, as of June 17, the Guiyang Culture Office  is recommending a series of online activities that revive the old propaganda slogans in an effort to make the people of Guiyang strive to learn from Lei Feng together, see the good in others’ actions and decide to become ‘good people’. The program will continue until December 20, 2012.

It is understood by everyone that the program will help the whole society ‘take pleasure in helping others’ (助人为乐)， ‘have the courage to defend a just cause’ (见义勇为) , ‘be honest and true’ (城市守信), ‘be dedicated to their work’ (敬业奉献”) and ‘piously love their parents’ (孝老爱亲).  Furthermore, the program hopes to encourage more morally advanced people to do extraordinary things, and create a strong social atmosphere of striving to be better.

At the end of the program, one person will be selected as the ‘most decent person in Guiyang’. They will be sent on to participate in the ‘most decent person in China’ public choice awards ( ‘中国好人榜’ 评选).

Also on the front page: a headline about China’s most recent space launch. The Shenzhen No. 9 space shuttle is now safely on its way. The three astronauts who will carry out China’s first manned space docking, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, are all safe and in good condition. Liu Yang is now the first Chinese woman ever to go into space.

Links and Sources
Guizhou Metropolis Daily: 谁见过: 贵阳全城动员寻找雷锋; 
神九变轨　宇航员换装
Danwei: China’s first woman in space ;
China’s everyday heroes take their lead from the CPC ;
Lei Feng in the age of the microblog