Town commissioner's retro photoshoot goes viral

Wang Xue is pictured in a series of retro self-portraits to publicize her hometown.

A young town official from Huainan City became a hot topic Monday as her retro photoshoot was circulated online in a move to promote her old hometown.

Wang Xue, a 20-something lady, is a town commissioner for organization and personel work. She posed with a backdrop of old buildings in Jiulonggang Town of Datong District in Huainan City of Anhui Province wearing various retro clothes and make-up. The personal album cost her about 500 yuan, and she hopes through this way to get more people interested in her old hometown.

There are many old buildings and architectural complexes in the town dating from the Republic of China and Japanese puppet regime period, as well as the Friedrich Krupp-made derrick imported from Germany during the Qing Dynasty and old mines. They are all cultural heritage sites in the town and Wang believes Huainan City can become a tourist destination thanks to such features.

Wang became an official in Jiulonggang Village after her graduation in 2011 and was then appointed the first village secretary in Caodian Village. Later, she became an assistant to the town chief overseeing tourism affairs. In this capacity, she began to pay more attention to the old buildings for which she already had fond feelings as she grew up there.

However, though some interested parties came to inspect and survey the place for possible tourism development, no investors have stepped forward so far. Wang thought of making this photo album to make the town more accessible to Chinese society at large and get more people interested in it in order for the town to be better explored and preserved. Her idea was supported by her superiors.

Wang, still single, jokes she would be surprised and happy to get a boyfriend through this photoshoot.