'Final farewell' to top Chinese hepatobiliary surgeon Wu Mengchao Photo:Yang Hui/GT

Despite rainy weather, huge crowds from across China waited in long queues holding flowers to honor the deceased top hepatobiliary surgeon Wu Mengchao at his farewell ceremony Wednesday morning, which was held in the Longhua Funeral Parlor in Shanghai. 

Instead of mourning music, the Internationale was played at the ceremony, which was the Communist Party of China (CPC) member's favorite song during his lifetime. 

Wu's body was covered with a bright red Party flag, and hundreds of people bowed and offered flowers at the venue.

Another national hero, 85-year-old top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, also sent a wreath and an elegy for Wu.

More young people gathered outside the hall to pay their respects to Wu, offering bouquets of flowers, with many shedding tears.

Many who could not be present chose to express their condolences through "takeout orders." Many deliverymen were seen shuttling around the site - those who could not be in Shanghai chose to send bouquets of flowers. One deliveryman said that he had delivered eight bouquets to the hall in just a few hours.

On message cards at the site, many people wrote that Wu was the backbone of China and will always be remembered for his contributions.

Young people made up the majority of those who gathered outside the venue to pay their respects. Many of them had not met Wu, but were impressed by his belief, devotion and story.

A man presents a bouquet of flowers to honor the deceased top hepatobiliary surgeon Wu Mengchao at his farewell ceremony on Wednesday in Shanghai. Wu, known as the father of Chinese hepatobiliary surgery died on May 22 at the age of 99. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Saturday was a dark day for hundreds of millions of Chinese people, as China bid farewell to two national heroes, Wu Mengchao and "Father of Hybrid Rice" Yuan Longping. In the days that followed, there were heated discussions and memorials for the two heroes on major social media platforms.

On China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, a youth-oriented social media platform, most of the daily trending topics are usually about entertainment stars. However, in the last few days, a considerable number of hashtags about Yuan and Meng have been high on the trending list, overshadowing most entertainment topics. Some observers have pointed out that this is a testament to the interest shown by China's youths in the country's heroes and scientific endeavors.

"I am proud to have been born in the same country and era as such a great hero," a tearful young woman told the Global Times at the farewell ceremony, "I am extremely proud to be a Chinese."

Over 40,000 netizens left similar messages during the live broadcast of Wu's farewell ceremony on Sina Weibo.

Wu, known as the father of Chinese hepatobiliary surgery, died on May 22 aged 99. The academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences had established a unique system of liver surgery in China and devoted himself to saving people's lives for nearly eight decades. He continued working into his 90s, seeing patients and performing more than 16,000 operations.