Uncle Chen, a man who has not yet been identified, has gone viral on the Chinese social media platform Weibo after videos of him running marathons while chain smoking emerged.

Pictures of Unce Chen is all over social media, and while some are criticising him for smoking, other have called him a ‘steam engine’.

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Who is Uncle Chen?

Uncle Chen attained a celebrity status in the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Photos of him running marathons with a cigarette dangling from his lips have gone viral lately, making people in China and the world over curious about the man.

He is a long-distance runner who was first spotted smoking during the 2017 Hangzhou Marathon. His fellow runners had nicknamed him “Smoking Bro” at that time. Chinese media says that he even smoked during the 2021 Lhasa Marathon, which starts at a height of 17,000 feet above sea level. While for most it would prove to be sickening, for Uncle Chen, it seems, the smoke helps.

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Recently, Uncle Chen completed the 26-mile Xin’Anjiang Marathon in Jiande, in China’s Zhejiang. He came 574th among 1,500 runners by finishing the race in three hours, 28 minutes, and 45 seconds.

There are currently no rules the world over that forbid smoking while running in marathons. However, experts in this area are strongly against it as the effect of smoking on lungs are can be quite adverse. 

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China is the world’s greatest producer and consumer of tobacco, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly one-third of all smokers in the world, or more than 300 million people, reside in China. Over half of adult men currently smoke tobacco there.