Here's a character like no other

If you are thinking of picking up some Chinese during your stay in the Middle Kingdom, there's one character you will definitely want to know. 囧 (jiong), which first appeared on oracle bones about 3,000 years ago, has become one of the most frequently used icons by the Chinese Internet community.

The character has gained iconic status and has come to mean "sad and frustrated", as it resembles a frowning face. The symbol, whose original meaning is "bright", has attracted a lot of online buzz with its new Net definition.

This new meaning has found wide-ranging use in expressions such as, "I was terribly 囧 to find myself in the same elevator as my boss after I had complained to him about a colleague", or "It's really that I was in such a hurry that I threw my handbag instead of the garbage bag into the trash can".