A man reportedly took upskirting photos of popular Chinese actress Yang Mi as she was making her way to the studio, where she was filming Chinese television series Mrs Dendrobium.

The incident happened when Yang, 33, who was wearing a jacket, an oversized T-shirt and shorts, was walking up the stairs to the studio, according to Malaysian newspaper Oriental Daily News.

The side of the staircase was covered by a tarp, and a man, who was squatted below it, positioned his phone to take photos of Yang's legs. The images were subsequently uploaded on Weibo.

The topic quickly trended online and many netizens were angered at the breach of Yang's modesty.

One said: "Fortunately, she's wearing shorts. It would have been terrible if it was a skirt!" Another wrote: "Sister, report this is to the police. This is illegal."

Netizens have also expressed anger at how rampant such crimes are.

On the same day of the incident, the management behind the TV series released a statement saying that filming security is frequently undermined, which is disrespectful to the actors and dangerous for the cast and crew.

The management added that they would step up security and urged the public to respect the cast and crew.