The recent Weng’an riots have given rise to new Internet catchphrase– “doing push-ups” (做俯卧撑).

After the Weng’an riots: burnt buildings and “doing push ups” (AP photo)

The phrase that’s been popping up all over the China’s Internet in recent days comes from the explanation given by local police after a teenage girl’s death triggered large-scale riots last weekend. On Monday, after the unrest had been quelled, the police stuck by their earlier explanation that the girl’s death was not caused by foul play on the part of the young men she was with at the time. The police said that, “the girl got into a quarrel with one of her male classmates who was with her at the river bank. Later, she seemed to calm down a little bit, so the boy began doing push-ups next to her. As he finished the third push-up, the girl suddenly jumped into the river…”

Netizens have seized on what they take to be a ridiculous or nonsensical explanation and turned “doing push-ups” into the latest online meme (story in Chinese here).

Internet users are even combining it with the previous hot phrase–”getting some soy sauce” (打酱油), which originated from a Guangzhou reporter’s failed attempt at a man-on-the-street interview. Asked about the government response to a recent scandal, the man replied: “It has nothing to do with me at all! I’m just out to get some soy sauce!” That don’t-bother-me response inspired a trend among China’s netizens to change their MSN status messages to, “I’m just out to get some soy sauce.”

At this moment, one of the most popular MSN status messages among Chinese users is “I’m not here to buy some soy sauce; I’m here to do some push-ups!”