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]

Zheng says when posing for the photos, she resembled the style of women in Zan Hua Shi Nyu Tu (Court Ladies with Head-pinned Flowers), a famous work by the Tang painter Zhou Fang.

Many of Zhou's works portray noblewomen, and his works are often used to recreate the clothing, hairstyles and make-up for female characters in historical dramas.

The photos have been reposted by cultural institutions such as the Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an.

Zheng says her team also used the pottery figures of court ladies from the Tang Dynasty as inspiration for the pictures.