In mid-April, the naked photos of a young Chinese woman in a Tibetan lakeside became viral and sparked a Weibo debate on the how appropriate was her behavior.
Just a month after the incident, another set of nude photos, this time of a Chinese couple posing on the streets of Dali City, Yunnan Province, has gone viral, reported Beijing News on Thursday. The pair either had sparse clothing or totally au naturel while posing in different locations of the tourist city.
Among the locations of their photos, shared on microblogging site Weibo, were in front of a secondary school, a bar, a youth hotel and at a crossroad. Strong criticism over their being pornographic led to the deletion of the photos. The harsh words were particularly strong for their nude photos in from of the No. 4 Middle School, which Chinese netizens said brought shame to Dali City.
But not all Weibo users condemned the naked couple. Some said their images were just personal expressions of art, and they called for the public’s greater tolerance. Since their photos were taken at night and did not show any onlookers, it indicates the shoot was done without disturbing residents.
According to Sina, the photos were first uploaded on Weibo on May 25 with the caption, “Every city has its own Renmin Road. To me, the Renmin Road of Dali is more familiar.”
The Weibo user who posted the photos deleted most of the images and changed his location from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to Beijing City. Even if the naked photos were removed, the Dali Police is still conducting an investigation to find the original source of the photos.
Chinese law says the couple could be jailed for five to 10 days for deliberate exposure of their bodies in public placed, according to Beijing lawyer Chang Sha. The naked pair could also face a separate administrative penalty for posting naked photos online and a 500-3,000 yuan fine.