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Lin Wei (www.scol.com.cn): Pingyao is an ancient city of great historic and cultural importance. It is among China's four best-preserved ancient cities and also the only ancient Chinese city that has been listed as a world cultural heritage.
From the perspective of local tourism development, it's all right for the local mayor to join in the welcoming parade. It's a moving picture to see the mayor dressed up in the costume of the Qing Dynasty with a view to promoting Pingyao's reputation and boosting local tourism. Excited visitors rushed to take photos together with him and were very happy to see a local mayor dressed up in ancient official uniform to welcome them.
However, on second thought, it seems improper for a local mayor to play the role of a Qing Dynasty official. It's not necessary for him to play the role himself, because after all, a county head today is so much different from a county official from the Qing Dynasty. Together with the impressive parade of "local officials and businessmen," although they are not real ones, it's easy to remind the public of the bureaucratic government officials common in the old time. In this way, the mayor damaged its own image. His behavior has sent the wrong message, and finally the public may end up feeling a bigger distance between them and the government. This is not good.
Wang Lefeng (www.cnhan.com): As an historic and cultural city, Pingyao surprised visitors and residents with its unique way of welcoming tourists. The mayor's performance made headlines in many newspapers during this National Day holiday. However, while others in the county can play the role of an ancient official, the mayor is not supposed to do so. Maybe it's because he does not know the difference between today's county mayor and the old-time county official, and might feel it's fun to play such a role in front of crowds of tourists.
There actually is a big difference between an ancient county official and modern county mayor. First, an ancient county official was superior to the people under his jurisdiction, and this goes against modern democratic political concepts. In ancient times, a county head was the master of the county. However, the mayor of Pingyao surprisingly chose to play the role of an ancient county official, and this has easily hurt local people's feelings.
Obviously, the problem does not lie in him, but in China's overall cultural development guidelines. In today's China many historic cities believe putting on ancient costumes and reconstructing several sections of ancient walls will suffice to promote local cultural industries.
In many cases, China's cultural industry is not based on real culture. The focus is on immediate and short-term economic interests.
The mayor's actions are nothing but a farce in the trend of the cultural commercia-lization. Although some people don't take it seriously, I have to say that it's time for us to ponder over our cultural industrialization strategy. If this trend continues, we can only see more short-sighted, ridiculous and superficial programs while the essence of history and culture is forgotten.
Gao Lu (www.ce.cn): Nowadays Pingyao is a hot topic online, but the public does not like what the mayor did. The mayor might have intended to impress the public as amiable and easy-going, but people still do not have the nerves to get close to the mayor.
In ancient time, county heads were masters of the county, privileged and powerful. Based on what the mayor of Pingyao has done today, the situation has not changed yet. County mayors still enjoy big privileges and power. The mayor in ancient official's costume can hardly cheer the public up.
Ostensibly, the county mayor's practice of meeting people in the streets shows his respect to the tourists. It's great for him to come to the streets, instead of always staying in his luxurious office. But if they continue to act with airs and graces, officials can never expect people to really like them.
To win the public's affection, you don't need to put on ancient official costumes and act like a clown. What you need to do is tangible things for the public. | 
