BEIJING -- Zhang Jianwei, a 22-year-old hairdresser in Beijing, has never been inside the Great Hall of the People and takes little interest in TV news or newspapers.

　　But events in the Hall have been the center of discussion during his meals and leisure time over the past week.

　　"I only read Internet news and gossip about the two meetings," Zhang says, referring to the dual annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee.

　　"There are plenty of comments and debates on the Internet that you cannot find in the newspapers," says Zhang, who works at a small barbershop in downtown Beijing. "If I find something interesting on the Internet, I will share and discuss it with my colleagues and customers."

　　A migrant worker from the northeastern Jilin Province who wishes to buy a small house in Beijing, Zhang's personal favorites are the "strange and shocking" remarks made by several NPC deputies and CPPCC members about skyrocketing housing prices in big cities.

　　Zhang Jieting, a CPPCC National Committee member and vice chairman of the Beijing Municipal Federation of Industry and Commerce, came under the spotlight when he said people in Beijing should buy houses as quickly as they could during a panel discussion of political advisors last Thursday.

　　"Otherwise you will regret it," he said.

　　Zhang even predicted the housing price in Beijing would soar to 40,000 yuan (about $5,900) per square meter within two years. Last year, Beijing saw the per capita disposable income of urban residents increase 9.7 percent to 26,738 yuan.

　　Asked "What about ordinary people?" Zhang answered loudly, "Ordinary people have their ways of living, the government has its way of living, and rich people have their ways of living, too," causing an immediate silence in the meeting room.

　　The remarks, later posted on the Internet in detail, sparked widespread criticism from netizens and topped headlines of popular online forums, as angry netizens complained it was "not acceptable" for a political advisor to say such words. Zhang has yet to respond.

　　THUNDEROUS REMARKS COME OUT OF GREAT HALL

　　As China moves ahead with political transparency, the Internet is offering a platform for common people to judge the country's lawmakers and political advisors, who are supposed to speak for the interests of the people and make constructive proposals for the country's sound development and social harmony.

　　For the country's two most important annual political events, what happens in the Great Hall no longer stays in the colossal architecture, thanks to the live broadcast of press conferences on the Internet as well as blogs and microblogs.

　　Netizens have even collected and filed all the "quotable quotes" of NPC deputies and CPPCC members, which are widely picked up by newspapers and websites.

　　There are even special collections of those shocking remarks like that of CPPCC member Zhang Jieting. The shocking remarks were jokingly called "leiyu," or "thunderous remarks" to show people maybe terribly shocked by such words. "Lei" means "thunder" in Chinese while "leiyu" put together is a homophone of "thunder storm."

　　It seems that no matter how uncomfortable the NPC deputies and CPPCC members might be, they have to face public scrutiny.

　　Yan Qi, another CPPCC member and CEO of a Chongqing-based company, came under much pressure after his proposal for closing all privately owned Internet cafes ran into strong opposition from netizens.

　　Yan had to later explain to the public that his proposal was based upon scores of letters from mothers who worried about their children spending too much time in Internet cafes.

　　Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Shanghai's Fudan University, said it was nothing new for lawmakers and advisors to act or speak illogically or improperly, but without the Internet, any impropriety previously stayed in the Hall.

　　"In the past, we could not get such information from newspapers or TV, but now it's everywhere on the Internet, and most importantly, we can comment on the way we like and share with others," Yu said.

　　Netizens, however, do not always concentrate on "thunderous remarks."

　　NPC deputy and Chongqing Municipality Party Chief Bo Xilai's honesty was hailed by netizens as "normal and good communications with the media and the public."

　　Asked about the case of a lawyer named Li Zhuang, who defended a gang leader but was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment himself for fabricating evidence, Bo said it was handled strictly according to the law and "we'd like to hear any comments on the case from the public."