Wearing a blue waistcoat, Ning Hu, a civil servant in Shenzhen, was polishing shoes for passersby on Huaqiang North Street, a business street in the city in Guangdong province, on May 15

He was one of 8,000 volunteers from local government departments who polished shoes, gave haircuts, repaired digital products, took photos and made copies.

All services were free and such activities are planned to be held every month.

"It was much easier to communicate with citizens when we were polishing shoes for them," said Zheng Dan, who works at the local audit bureau.

"Doing little things, civil servants can help change Shenzhen into a more peaceful and harmonious society," said Liu En, secretary of the Shenzhen working committee.