Clothes store owner Zheng Qi poses as a Tang Dynasty (618-907) court lady in this series of photos to celebrate the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. The images have quickly become an internet sensation.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"I just wanted people to have fun by posting memes derived from my photos," says Zheng who posted another series of similar pictures in which she holds a hongbao, or red packet, in her hands before Spring Festival.

Zheng, 38, who has owned a store selling hanfu－the traditional clothing of Han people－since 2013, says her weight crossed 90 kilograms after giving birth to a child in 2016.

Then, in a bid to boost sales at her hanfu store, she produced plus-sized hanfu for women and volunteered to be the model.

Commenting on the pictures, some netizens say the model has "recreated the Tang women from head to toe".