PETALING JAYA: A vibrantly touched-up mural of Fan Bing Bing has been completed and has received praise from locals and tourists for its striking likeness, reported Sinchew Daily.
The mural, located in Jonker Street, depicts the actress in her role as Empress Wu Zetian.
The touch-up was done by Ren DaChen, a young Chinese artist from Tianjin, who was specially invited to Melaka for the job.
A massive fan of Fan Bing Bing himself, Ren specialises in drawing the actress and has created many portraits of her.
Melaka’s local council workers initially completed Fan's mural on June 7. Ren was then invited to touch up Fan’s eyes and mouth and add vibrance to the portrait.
Through his familiarity with Fan’s portraits, Ren noted that she has a slender neck, an oval-shaped face, a sharp chin, and elongated eyes.
Besides enhancing the face, he added more flowers in the background along with the Chinese characters for "Fan Bing Bing" and "The Empress of China".
The completed mural measures 10 feet in height and width and was specially commissioned to welcome Melaka’s soon-to-be tourism ambassador, Fan Bing Bing.
The popular Chinese actress will visit on June 14, where she will receive her official appointment, said Melaka’s chief minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh.
He added that the state government hopes Fan can attract tourists from China and other parts of Asia to Melaka.
