Opinion | Hunan official's 'meteoric rise' to the top cut short as he's forced to resign
Young deputy county head's parents were officials, it has emerged
Xiangtan in Hunan is known as the place where Mao Zedong spent his childhood. It also happens to be Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's ancestral home.
But when Chinese newspapers mentioned the famous Hunan tourist destination over the last two months, their reports focused on the county's 27-year-old deputy head Xu Tao.
It followed up rumours first spread on microblogs. Netizens has speculated how Xu could, at his age, already be second in charge of a county with a million inhabitants and also be pursuing a full-time master's programme.
In later reports, it emerged that his father and mother had both been local officials.
By March 24, the country's most eminent newspaper, People's Daily, reported that a committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances of Xu's promotion.