Chinese social media users have been discussing how Mr Walz spent a year teaching in the south-eastern region of Guangdong in 1989, which was a popular topic on Weibo with 12 million views.
He and his bride, fellow teacher Gwen Whipple, later spent their honeymoon in the countryside.
Mr. Walz once called his decision to teach in China “one of the best things I’ve ever done”.
Prior to entering politics, the 60-year-old Minnesota governor worked as a history teacher and football coach.
He was just out of college when he moved to China to teach English and American history in a high school.
Those commenting on Chinese social media were well aware that it happened in 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
On June 4, that year, Chinese tanks stormed into Beijing’s central square, where hundreds of thousands had assembled to demand democratic reform. The day ended in slaughter, and it is still unclear how many people perished. Some estimates place the death toll at well than 10,000.
