Admittedly, we are repeating ourselves. But the herd of elephants moving through Yunnan is now the topic of the month – also in the Chinese media and social networks. Little dramas are taking place: A young male animal has strayed from the herd and is now limping 17 kilometers behind. The others are therefore slowing down and treating themselves to extra naps. Meanwhile, the entire People’s Republic is puzzling over what prompted the animals to set off from the subtropical forests of the nature reserve in Xishuangbanna and what their route might be. Social media sites such as Weibo also joke that the elephants have set out on a „long march“ like the communist revolutionaries once did in the 1930s, perhaps to take part in the grand celebrations of the party’s 100th birthday in Beijing on July 1.