A young taxi driver from China with meticulous skin care habits has tickled Internet users, after he was photographed wearing a facial cleansing mask during the night shift.
Local police were not amused, however, and the once smooth-skinned driver was later suspended for three days by his company.
Mr Chen Yiqun from China's eastern coastal province of Zhejiang was spotted with the facial cleansing mask as he was heading into the Linhai county in Taizhou to refuel, reported local media outlets.
A passer-by, who snapped a photo of Mr Chen, posted it online and it quickly went viral among Chinese social media users.
According to news portal Shanghaiist, some netizens called Mr Chen China's most "refined" taxi driver, while others expressed concerns that he would give children nightmares.
In an interview with China's CNS TV after his suspension, Mr Chen said that there were no passengers on board his taxi at the time.
He added that it often takes about half an hour to pick a passenger up, so he decided to put the mask on in the meantime.
Later, he realised that he was running low on petrol. He was driving to a petrol kiosk when the viral photo of him was taken.
Since he became a taxi driver about a month ago, Mr Chen said that he has had to work late into the night with little sleep.
His complexion took a turn for the worse as a result of his job, he said, as he showed the interviewer past portraits of himself with fair and smooth skin.
He added that this was the first time he has put on a mask since starting work as a taxi driver.
The viral photo also caught the attention of local traffic police, who tracked Mr Chen down and called him to their headquarters for a talk.
There, they gave him a stern warning about driving with a face mask on and reminded him about the importance of road safety.
An officer told CNS TV that the mask could fall off, block the driver's vision and cause an accident.
With the police taking an interest in the case, Mr Chen's company said that they would have to suspend him for three days as a punishment.
According to Qianjiang Evening News, Mr Chen has spent around 30,000 yuan (S$5,900) on skincare products in the past five years.
