Netizens select China's grassroots heroes

BEIJING - China's Internet users have selected 10 individuals as grassroots heroes, or China's "Good Samaritans," for the first quarter of 2014.

The winners, chosen from 29 candidates, were unveiled on late Monday following a three-week-long vote by hundreds of thousands of web users, according to an announcement by the online event's initiator and sponsor, Xinhua News Agency.

They include Zhang Guangxiu, a village official, who spent more than 400 days serving local people and dedicating herself to her work even while suffering severe illness.

He Yanjun, a doctor from South China's Guangdong Province, performed medical care services for one and a half years in Kashgar in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Also among the winners, Zhou Wei, who is called the "Chinese Rain Man," astonished audiences in a TV talent show by answering math problems that seemed nearly impossible to solve with the human brain.

The vote, held since 2010, is conducted quarterly to promote ordinary people's good deeds and improve moral awareness in society.