On March 28, a furniture store in Chengdu held a promotional event in Qingshuihe Park that climaxed with "letting butterflies fly," as boxes of the colorful insects were handed out to the first ten children to storm the stage with their parents.
The butterflies, flown in from southwest China's Yunnan Province, had to be warmed up with heat packs before the event but remained lethargic is the nippy Sichuan capital, where spring temperatures still hover around 15 degrees Celsius.
After releasing the butterflies, the children started chasing after them excitedly with their parents in tow, crushing scores of the creatures as they settled on the red-carpeted stage. The event organizers and many bystanders are said to have "felt very sorry" as they surveyed the stage, now covered the brightly colored wings of so many dead butterflies.
"So that's why Bo Yang wrote The Ugly Chinaman," the story's most popular comment read, referencing the Taiwan-based writer's acerbic critique of his home country. The second top comment asked "when will they release cobras for these people to go fight over?"
[Images via Sina]
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