Xi Has the Common Touch

Xi Jinping made an unannounced visit to a Beijing restaurant yesterday

Millions of Chinese are already making their way home for Spring Festival that starts on February 5. Many major cities are emptying out and people are heading on trains, buses and planes for the next week or so.

Yesterday Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised diners by dropping into a small restaurant in Beijing. On state television Xi was seen asking how much a bowl of rice noodles was and how long the owners had been in the city.

He praised deliverymen for being like diligent bees

As diners stood up to take pictures, he told them not to stop eating on his account. "I'm just passing through," he said.

The last time Xi unexpectedly interacted with the public was in 2014 when he visited courtyard homes and chatted with passers-by on one particularly smoggy day.

This time the Chinese President also chatted with deliverymen who spend all day delivering packages around Beijing.

"You are the most diligent, like diligent bees, traveling here and there and being exposed to the sun and rain. It's not easy," Xi told them.

He asked if they would be going home for Spring Festival, and one replied in the affirmative. The rest were probably thinking, "I need to feed my family", or "The boss made me work".

Xi even wrapped dumplings, but how did they look?

Xi also visited policemen and even made dumplings with residents in a courtyard building in Qianmen.

We have the photographic, but how did his dumplings look?