A passerby walks past a manhole cover painted with Smurfs on the campus of Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology in Luoyang city, Central China's Henan province, July 19, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Manhole covers are usually such an overlooked part of the landscape, but a group of students at a Luoyang university turned them into pieces of art, with a little bit of imagination.

More than 30 students from Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology took part in an activity, aiming to give cartoon covers to more than 300 manholes at their university in Luoyang city, Central China's Henan province.

So far, more than 50 manhole covers at the university have been painted. The vivid cartoon images won praise from other students, saying that these science geeks are unexpectedly romantic.