A Party official from Chuxiong country, Yunnan, has become the talk of the day on Chinese social media, after his photo was posted online by the local organizational department on November 15. His photo and short biography were posted as part of an introduction of local officials and their responsibilities.

The photo of the man, a local Party committee secretary named Li Zhongkai (李忠凯), would normally have never been noteworthy. The fact that the information with it said that Li was born in August of 1980 is what caught the attention of netizens, with many people thinking the grey-haired man looks much older than 38, and some even doubting his age.

According to his bio description, Li is a Chinese Communist Party member who started working at the end of 1999. He is now a Party secretary in Chuxiong’s Wanbi town, various Chinese media sources write, responsible for poverty alleviation, relocation of households, and fulfilling an important role at the time of the landslides in Yunnan. In 2018, he was praised for his service excellence by the local county.

Chinese media outlet The Paper writes that it has been verified that the photo is indeed the 38-year-old Li, and that a co-worker told media that Li’s workload is heavy.

A WeChat video in which Li was interviewed earlier this year, in September, shows the man still had black hair at the time.

Although many joked about the man, there are now also more serious comments. “Working at the grassroots level is really tough,” many commenters write. “If you’d tell me he was 60, I’d believe it.”

There are also those giving the man some advice on his appearance: “Just lose some weight and exercise, that will make you look younger.”

Li spoke to reporters, saying he was “surprised” about his photo going viral, and also explaining that his work was not easy, as many places in the county are remote and require him to travel long hours.

The Party official has now become popular on Weibo, where some encourage him to open a Weibo account to share more about the work he does in the county.

“Brother, please take care of yourself,” some commenters say: “You look like you’re over 50.”

By Manya Koetse, with contributions from Miranda Barnes

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