We’ve read enough stories about Li Keqiang’s inaugural press conference as premier, and there’s not much more that can be said. But apparently what happened after he spoke may be more interesting.

After Li and the other vice premiers left the venue, many reporters rushed to the stage to snatch up pencils and papers used by top officials. At the same time, several female reporters aimed for things bigger than stationary – they wanted the bottle of mineral water that Li drank from. Li was reportedly pouring water into a glass so that his lips never touched his bottle. At the end, a lady in a white jacket got to the bottle first, and began drinking!

Other reporters, meanwhile, wanted invitation cards. Only those with invitations could attend the press conference — they were shown at the door and then collected. But afterwards, flocks of reporters surrounded staffers, asking for cards to take home as mementos. The lucky ones ended up leaving with stacks.

I’d like to suggest that from now on, government auction off all used materials from major press conferences. People love buying souvenirs wherever they go. This isn’t a bad idea at all to raise some money for the government, maybe?

The cute toddler who unexpectedly popped out of a cupboard on Sunday and stole Li Keqiang’s thunder — no biggie, Li’s only the second most powerful man in the Politburo Standing Committee — has gone officially, fully viral. None other than CCTV’s Sina Weibo account has formally distributed this story, with an accompanying 2-minute, 10-second video. It’s rather endearing.

Also, have a look at the high-definition pictures CCTV posted:

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang made an unexpected visit to a farmer’s family in Baotou, Inner Mongolia earlier this week. How unexpected? According to Sina Weibo, the farmer’s son was still sleeping (half-)naked in the room, so the father told him to go hide in the cupboard. With CCTV cameras rolling, the kid ran out of oxygen, jumped out of the cupboard, and crawled under the blankets, exposing his bare ass to a national audience.

When PR appearances go wrong, I guess. Except this feels, in its spontaneity, so right. I’ll take this…

…over these photo ops any day:

Unless this was orchestrated, in which case, Xi Jinping has his work cut out for him to top this. We suggest, for his next act, helping deliver a doe in the fields. The hoi polloi will lap it up!

(H/T @MissXQ)

UPDATE, 2/8, 4:45 pm: Now with video: