Ten ordinary people have been recognized as national role models, as the results of a quarterly online election were unveiled on Saturday.

The 10 were chosen for their actions and behavior that touched millions of Internet users across the country. The online election, organized by Xinhua News Agency, was held to inspire moral strength in the general public by highlighting the good deeds of ordinary people.

Among those recognized was Liu Zhenmao, who lived alone on Shizikou Mountain in central China's Hunan province for 30 years to volunteer to protect forests and wildlife on the remote peak.

Wang Sujing, a doctor at Jilin University's School of Computer Science and Technology who suffers from cerebral palsy but won international academic acclaim for his research, was also honored in the results.

Wang was invited to the Doctoral Consortium of the International Conference on Biometrics held in the United States in 2011, where he was recognized as one of the 10 most promising doctoral students in the world. Internet users have labeled him "the Chinese Stephen Hawking."

Wang Yimeng, a 10-year-old orphan, takes on the responsibility of looking after her elder brother who suffers from cerebral palsy, so deserves the recognition of being among these celebrated 10 people.

Other "good Samaritans" included a girl who saved a boy from drowning in a freezing river, a boy who risked his life to save his mother from fire, and Metog, a 33-year-old woman in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, who adopted an abandoned baby girl in 2009. Metog, a street cleaner, barely makes ends meet after she took on the responsibility of mothering the girl alone.

Source: peopledaily.com.cn