Actually Stephen Hawking has been a big name among Chinese people for generations, his relationship with China also goes way back.

In 1985, Hawking visited China for the first time, he went to the University of Science and Technology and gave an lecture there. Over the next three decades he visited China twice more, and climbed the Great Wall in 2006 with the help of specially re-designed cable cars. Hawking is also a big star on China's social media. In April 2016, Hawking registered on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo and posted to say hi. His first post immediately got millions of reposts and comments. After that Hawking has been constantly interacting online with his fans. He has nearly 4-point-6 million followers on Weibo before passing away on Wednesday. Millions of Chinese netizens are now mourning the great mind and sending condolences on social media.