After collecting a number of such pictures on the Internet, Zhou forwarded them to friends, who confirmed the brands and values of the watches, he said. The netizen also sent the pictures to a "watch expert," who supported the high value of the watches, based on the pictures.
Zhou then released the pictures through blogs and microblogs or placed them on forums on Monday, explaining, "I posted these pictures in more than 200 forums so as to attract as much attention as possible."
The pictures went viral overnight. Zhou's post on Sina Weibo, the popular Twitter-like microblogging service, has become one of the most discussed topics, logging nearly 6.5 million comments within days.
"How dare he wear such pricey watches in public after Yang Dacai was sacked for the same reason?" asked an Internet user with the screen name of "Buweiwu."
Yang, a work safety official in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, was dismissed from his post in September after Internet users compiled photos of him wearing luxury timepieces that he would have been unable to afford on his above-board earnings.
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