Penalty playing cards issued by city inspectors in the Nanshan District of Shenzhen. The Joker card, left, depicts the Nanshan city inspector's office building while the "Ace of hearts", right, shows citizens should not destroy public facilities, or they will be fined 200 yuan ($29 US dollars). [Photo: nddaily.com]

by Wang Wenwen and Tong Jingjing

A creative set of playing cards issued by city inspectors in Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province depicting various misdemeanors and their penalties has attracted the attention of Netizens, the local Nanfang Metropolitan Daily reports.

Netizens sent a post to "Tianya BBS", one of the most popular forums in China, entitling it "After you see the playing cards made by city inspectors in Nanshan District, in the city of Shenzhen, you will know what on earth they are doing."

In the post, the playing cards, ranging from Ace to King, describe the different penalties a person is obliged to pay for various kinds of misdemeanors that may tarnish the local environment.

For example, "the 8 of Spades" shows you should not sweep litter from your house onto the street. Otherwise, you must be fined 1,000 yuan, or $147 US dollars.

In addition, the Joker card depicts the Nanshan city inspector's office building.

So far, the post has been read more than 50 thousand times. Netizens have reacted to these cards in various ways. Some regard it merely as a form of publicity, while others believe it places too much emphasis on the penalty. There are concerns that city inspectors might abuse these penalties to make extra profits.

However, one of the city inspectors argued that they would hand all penalties over to the government, and there was no link between the penalties and their incomes.

One of the city inspectors explained that all rules and regulations printed on the "Penalty Playing Cards" comes from the "Shenzhen Municipal Provision on Environmental Sanitation" and the printing of the cards began back in 2005. They will be distributed to Shenzhen citizens for free during its annual "Clean Month" of April to raise public awareness about urban sanitation.