Memes, nostalgia as Chinese on social media mourn Jiang Zemin

The late Chinese President Jiang Zemin waving to the crowd after being given a tricorn colonial hat during his trip to the United States in 1997. - AP

BEIJING (AFP): Irreverent memes, tributes to the late "toad king" and nostalgia for a time seen as more liberal -- Chinese took to social media on Wednesday (Nov 30) to mourn the death of former leader Jiang Zemin.

Over half a million commenters flooded a post by state broadcaster CCTV announcing the death on the Twitter-like platform Weibo within an hour, with many referring to the late leader as "Grandpa Jiang".