Chinese lottery winners or....superheros?!?

This is probably one of our favorite Chinese traditions so far: apparently lottery winners, in order to conceal their identities from the populous, dress up in costumes when receiving their fake oversized media checks. This has been going on for a while, and netizens have begun to give awards for the best costumes on Chinese forum sites. It's kind of like a taste of Halloween year round!

The netizen-awarded best costume went to a man who dressed up as an ersatz Spider Man after winning the lottery in Guizhou last year, despite concerns about blatant copyright infringements (ha, ha). Another group of four winners in Guizhou wore masks and hats while keeping their heads down, earning them the title of "the most depressed people to win the lottery". One guy in Henan actually gave the press the slip at the award conference: photographers waited for two hours before they realized they wouldn't get a picture, prompting people to ask if he was ever really there at all.

According to the article, people in the west don't dress up as comic book characters to protect their privacy when they're receiving lottery awards. Go figure. We're assuming that the tension between individual privacy and the right to announce lottery winners will keep this venerable tradition alive and kicking. And if any winners need ideas, they can always check out our sweet pictures from Shanghaiist's Halloween party.

Photo from JF daily