Shanghai ‘roasts’ the giant Rubber Duck
City unveils its own 'roasted' version of the popular Rubber Duck installation
Florentijn Hofman’s Rubber Duck installation gained rave reviews when a 16.5 metre-tall version arrived in Hong Kong this summer.
Hundreds of thousands of people viewed it against the backdrop of the skyscrapers that line the city’s Victoria Harbour.
Not to be outdone, Shanghai - which is vying with Hong Kong to be China’s financial capital - has unveiled its own version on the Huangpu River, which forms its waterfront Bund district.
“The design process took place during Shanghai’s scorching hot summer days, so we just thought: ‘Let’s roast it’,” designer Han Beishi told AFP.
“Other inspiration came from an ancient Chinese poem: ‘The duck knows first when the river becomes warm in spring’,” he added.
Shanghai’s duck is actually a working ferry boat which state media reported on Tuesday will carry passengers and host cultural performances including poetry reading.
