bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Nectar Gan

Two geese in southern China have become an internet sensation after a photograph of them kissing goodbye went viral on social media since Valentine’s Day.
However, three days later came the unfortunate news that the owner of the two “love birds” in Guangdong province had already slaughtered and eaten them, the Modern Express reported.
The simple image that touched the hearts of tens of thousands of internet users showed a grey goose stretching out its neck to touch the beak of another goose, which was being bundled up in a box on the back seat of a motorbike parked on a country road.
The picture has been shared more than 20,000 times since it was posted on Weibo, China’s microblogging site, on Sunday.
The owner of the geese, identified only by her surname, Deng, told the newspaper on Tuesday that the picture was taken on the second day of the Lunar New Year just as the female goose was about to be taken to the home of her relatives, where it was killed and eaten during a small banquet.
The picture also appeared to show that the male goose had been trying to free its mate from the ropes, Deng said.
The female goose was slaughtered at the relative’s home, while the male goose had been eaten by Deng and her parents at the end of the holiday, she said.
Many internet users had expressed their concerns about the fate of the birds because when a bird is tied up and placed on a vehicle in mainland China it most often means it will end up in a cooking pot – particularly around the annual Lunar New Year holiday, when a freshly slaughtered bird is a very popular choice for family meals.
Deng said the geese had been raised by her parents at her family’s home in the rural city of Meizhou. Her parents had looked after them for more than a year, she said.
Deng said there had been no alternative to eating the male goose because it had been injured by the family’s dog on several occasions.
Also after the end of the holiday, she and her parents needed to go back to work, so there was no one at home to look after the bird.


For Chinese consumers, buying local has become a statement of national pride

China son quits job to care for ‘2-year-old’ mum who lost mental faculties after falling ill

China could miss urban jobs target amid trade war, property sector trouble: analysts

6 ways China’s modernisation offers a new path to prosperity

China society

A ‘kiss’ goodbye: geese become Chinese internet sensation after picture goes viral of them bidding farewell before being killed 

No Caption Available.

This photograph, of the male and female geese kissing goodbye, before they are slaughtered, has touched the hearts of tens of thousands of internet users in China. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

China

People & Culture