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A couple of weeks ago, Christina Chan Hau-man  was just another keen but anonymous university student with a politically active mind.
But after her attempted protest with fellow activists at the torch relay on May 2, the days of the 21-year-old slipping quietly around the campus of the University of Hong Kong with her boyfriend are over.
The philosophy student and part-time model is now a celebrity. During her short protest career, she has been surrounded by dozens of journalists and subjected to abuse hurled from patriotic demonstrators.
In the  past week, newspapers and netizens have made  private photographs of her public, including shots of her in a bikini, enjoying herself at bars and nightclubs, and kissing companions.
Her body measurements were taken from her modelling-agency profile and circulated, and there has been commentary about her dress sense and relationships.
She appeared on the cover of a popular tabloid magazine and more than 100 posts with her name were  made on the Hong Kong-based popular  forum Discuss.com.hk.
A post with a collection of Ms Chan's private pictures had been viewed more than 23,000 times since it was uploaded on  Monday. A similar search on another popular site, Hong Kong Golden, hit 140 results from April 28 to  Thursday.
Facebook group 'Christina Chan, I support you!' has more than a thousand members. She also has her own Wikipedia entry.
Ms Chan said at first she thought the publicity would be good for her cause, which is why she spoke to the media before the relay about her Facebook group, 'A little trouble-making for the OLYMPICS torch relay - Let's p*** on the torch of shame.'
But now, she said, the focus was just on her and her boyfriend, Australian musician Nick Brazel, 27.
'I don't see how me wearing a bikini has anything to do with Tibet or human rights,' she said.
'I haven't done anything I'm ashamed of, but I just think it's regrettable that my friends have to be involved in this. Obviously, they have been asked about this by their families and friends and that type of thing.'
Ms Chan, who studied in Britain  for six years before returning to Hong Kong for her degree, said paparazzi had followed her to university and asked her professors about her. Journalists had knocked on her  door at all times of the day and night and followed her home, she said.
'If I'm walking with my boyfriend, we don't want to be kissing in public, because I don't want it on a website or in a magazine with them saying 'Christina kisses her boyfriend' or whatever,' she said.
Lui Tai-lok,  a sociology professor at Chinese University, said criticism of the mainland's policies on Tibet was not new and therefore not newsworthy.
'The focus is less on the issue itself, but on personalities, focusing on an individual and picking up whatever you can get from him or her,' Professor Lui said.
'The sad part of it is, after a week or so, who cares about any of it? But that's the media ecology these days.' Professor Lui said that while Ms Chan may have wanted to capture attention by being different, it was always hard to manage what the media would  be interested in or what path the publicity would take.
'You cannot direct or control everything unless you are really good at manufacturing news. And you need to have someone who represents David and Victoria Beckham to do that,' he said.
'Nowadays, with the internet, it's easy to dig up information. Pictures of you in a nightclub with guys you are not supposed to hang around with are available.'
A senior media observer said Ms Chan represented a fresh new angle 'who got results' with her protests using the Tibetan flag.
'That means a lot for the media,' she said. 'She's become a cover story. She has all the elements of novelty, that's why she has all the attention.
'In the coverage, there is  1 per cent about her campaign, and the rest is about  her. But for anyone who wants to sustain this type of  exposure, she has to have a very strong campaign, but we don't know her platform or what she is advocating.'
However, according to Ms Chan, who featured in a Coca-Cola advertisement last year, her future will be starting her master's degree next year rather than any more celebrity.



'What's wearing a bikini got to do with Tibet or human rights?'