( CNN ) -- An image of the new United States ambassador to China trying to buy a coffee at an airport in Seattle has caused a stir in his adopted country . Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was snapped by a passing Chinese traveler on August 12 at a Starbucks coffee shop without any security and carrying his own backpack as he waited with his family . The traveler immediately uploaded the picture , taken on his iPhone , to Chinese micro-blogging site , Sina Weibo , where it was picked up by bloggers and the mainstream media alike in China . Within two days the image was re-posted more than 40,000 times . They appeared to be impressed by the understated envoy 's low key approach , which is in stark contrast to the tight security that typically follows senior Chinese diplomats . `` He 's carrying his own backpack , '' exclaimed the Beijing Times , while the government-run Beijing Legal News observed that Locke 's family `` look like ordinary travelers . '' Meanwhile , one blogger commented , `` You people out of China might think this photo is too ordinary and ca n't see much out of it , but for Chinese it 's shocking . '' The author of the image , named by Sina Weibo as TangChaohui_adSage , later posted a message saying the Starbucks staff even refused Locke 's attempts to exchange his discount coupon for a coffee , forcing him to pay with a credit card . This prompted some bloggers to joke that the U.S. must really be suffering economically if its ambassador was forced to use such a voucher . Other bloggers simply praised Locke for being the kind of official they crave . `` This ( Locke ) is the model government official figure Chinese citizens wish for because China does n't have officials like this , '' wrote one . The outgoing U.S. ambassador to China , Jon Huntsman , won admirers in China for his informal style . He would often get around Beijing on his bicycle rather than the official ambassadorial limousine . CNN 's Xiaoni Chen contributed to this report .
Gary Locke named as the new U.S. ambassador to China . The move comes after a series of meetings between President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington last week. Locke was at Starbucks without any security and carrying his own backpack . Bloggers impressed by his understated style compared with Chinese diplomats .