(CNN) It was the eye roll that resonated with millions -- and broke the internet in China.

On the sidelines of the country's annual parliament session, a Chinese journalist on Tuesday morning showed her contempt for a fellow reporter's softball question with such force that videos of her facial expression went viral.

Captured live on state television, Liang Xiangyi, a correspondent for the Shanghai-based Yicai financial news network, looked up and down at the journalist next to her, as the latter began questioning a government official on the subject of state asset supervision.

#China #NPC #eyerollgate rages on: Ppl seem to be siding w/ eyeroller - as netizens dig up more on the questioner, who supposedly works for an "American" TV station but kept referring to China as "our country." #fakeforeignmedia pic.twitter.com/ycodwnerxU — Steven Jiang (@StevenCNN) March 13, 2018

Liang appeared so turned off by what she was hearing that she rolled her eyes while turning her head away from the other reporter, whose fawning question lasted a whopping 44 seconds -- an eternity in live broadcast.

Within minutes, numerous clips, GIFs and recreations of the eye roll began to spread like wildfire across the Chinese internet, prompting censors to suppress its spread and banning Liang's name from online search results.

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