Cartoon image does the trick

Officials should change their rigid images and keep close contact with the public, says an article in Chongqing Times. Excerpts:

As the Ambassador of "2009 Zhangjiajie International Countryside Music Festival", Zhao Xiaoming, the mayor of Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, appeared in the festival's promotional video in a cartoon image, thus attracting wide public attention.

The singing and dancing cartoon image of government officials is rather rare in China, which seems a subversion of their traditional image. An Internet poll shows that 93 percent of the netizens think it is an innovative way to show that officials can be playful and approachable, which finds favor with the public.