A photo of sleeping Chinese posted on Bernd Hagemann's website.[sleepingchinese.com]

German Photographer Bernd Hagemann has given a new twist to the idea that China is a sleeping giant by creating a website that shows hundreds of Chinese people dozing in the street. His pictures of people snoring on park benches, in cars, trucks and even telephone boxes, have attracted more than 7 million visitors to his site, and some of his images have been published by mainstream media, according to Global Times.

When Hagemann came to China in 2002 he was struck by the contrast between western pundits' descriptions of China as a menacing new superpower and the large numbers of people he saw happily snoring in public places. So he began to take pictures of restful street scenes. After amassing a collection of over 700 photos, he set up a website http://www.sleepingchinese.com/ to display them.

On the website Hagemann explains that he sees his pictures as a counterweight to media reports that report China's economic growth "with a strange kind of undertone, which is supposed to frighten us." Stories that talk about "The Awakening of the Red Dragon" may alarm readers, but "the reality," he says, "definitely looks more peaceful."

Hagemann's photo collection has aroused the interest of bloggers in China. One netizen said, "The photos show Germans and other foreigners the true face of China, which was exactly Bernd Hagemann's intention."