The awards for the "2006 Most Influential Chinese Person" were recently presented at Peking University. The recipients were eleven Chinese citizens who have made outstanding contributions in promoting China's image internationally were awarded. Although the winners came from various fields, including the sciences, culture, music and sports, the limelight focused almost exclusively on one person: movie star Zhang Ziyi. Students from Peking University waited outside the hall in the hope of catching a glimpse of her and papparazzi reporters thronged about her.

The China Youth Daily has questioned the phenomenon asking why Chinese youth and media are so obssessed with chasing pop or movie celebrities, but ignore scientists whose contributions may have changed the world? The article says the media should shoulder part of the blame as readers need diverse role model.

It argues the current bias in favour of reporting on such "celebrities" is a result of the public and the media feeding off one another. It concludes the press should pay more attention to other types of "'celebrities" in various, not just entertainment pop stars.