Beautiful PhD student sells fried rice on street:
Media hype or true story? (4)

A photo of “beautiful doctor selling fried rice on the street” went viral on Weibo Tuesday. The girl in the photo wears a doctoral gown and cooks fried rice on iron plate. After verification, the girl turns out to be a PhD candidate at Zhejiang University who comes from South Korea, and this is her first year of study.

After the photo went viral online, netizens started to question the real identity of the girl in the photo. Some said she used Zhejiang University to promote herself. Some even suspected that whether she is really a doctoral student. On Wednesday, the girl in the photo sent an entry on Weibo to verify herself with her student ID, claiming that she is a doctoral student of International College, majoring in food science. She said she posted the photo on WeChat within friends’ circle for self-mockery, but a friend re-posted it online.

A teacher of International College at Zhejiang University confirmed her identity as an international doctoral student. However, a professor noted that it is inappropriate to wear a doctoral gown to attract customers. Besides it was her first year in the school, technically she can only be called a PhD candidate but not a doctor.