This post has been changed since it was first published. See below.

Yet another American politician has caused a stir online after photos of him doing shocking things surfaced on a microblogging service.

The politician: newly sworn-in China envoy Gary Locke. The microblogging service: China's Sina Weibo.

The surprising behavior: Buying his own coffee and carrying his own luggage before flying to Beijing.

In a country where government officials are routinely pilloried for being lazy and imperious, the pictures of Mr. Locke humbly laboring on his own behalf have turned the ambassador into something of a hero.