Citizens of a Taiwanese city are enraged after a renowned local heritage site was used as the background of a semi-nude photoshoot. 

Online photography club BQ Photographer's Connection reportedly rented the Agricultural Research Facility Apartments in Tainan City. It is a wooden building built during the Japanese colonial-era. It housed the staff of the research facility who studied seed development. 

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The Tayovuan Association, a non-government organization that endorses reading and education for underprivileged children, uses one of the rooms in the building as a reading room. The organization's president, Huang Cheng-kung, said that they use another room as an office, but occasionally rent it to outside groups as an event venue. 

While admitting to renting the place out to BQ Photographer's Connection, Huang said that they were not aware of the nature of the photoshoot. 

BQ Photographer's Connection uploaded photos on Facebook of models wearing only their bikinis inside the building. Some were only wearing thongs or bras and striking seductive poses. 

The photos have been deleted following the public outrage, but screenshots are still available on the internet. 

The photoshoot was occurred on Sunday, January 17. 

According to the Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau, the site was operated under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) deal by the Tayovuan Association, but the latter reportedly "pulled out of the contract after the photographs were published." 

"The photographers applied to use the office building early last year, but we declined because we were still finalizing the details of the BOT agreement with the city," Huang said.

It was revealed that the photoshoot on January 17 was the third held in the building. Huang said that the photographers had rented it twice before for NT$1,000 ($30) per session and that he was with them during those two shoots which went fine. 

"They might have figured out that we had no surveillance cameras in the building, and decided to do the semi-nude shoot on Jan. 17, which was an insult to the heritage site and our association," he said.

Upon close examination, the Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau said that the BQ Photographer's Connection violated Article 5-2 of the heritage site's terms of use which specifically bans anything that is "morally offensive" within the vicinity. 

TagsTainan City, nude photos, heritage site, Agricultural Research Facility Apartments, BQ Photographer's Connection