Opinion | Mystery Nanjing road goo is 'corn starch and Foxconn workers' tears', says Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart, arguably Chinese netizens’ favourite foreign funny guy, recently brought America’s attention to the strange occurrence in Nanjing, China’s Jiangsu province.
What do you call a white, foamy, foul-smelling goo that randomly spews from the ground and is quickly pushed back into the gutter by firemen? Hint: it looks a bit like a mix of “bird [poop] and Bisquick”.
US comedian Jon Stewart - arguably Chinese netizens’ favourite foreign funny guy - didn't have an actual answer, but he recently brought America’s attention to the strange occurrence in Nanjing, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, on his late-night satire programme The Daily Show.
The foam, which some described as “marshmallow-like”, spread to a radius of 45 metres in the middle of Wende Road and released a putrid smell. Firefighters arrived and swept the foamy substance into roadside drains.
City authorities didn't have definitive answers either of what the substance was or where it came from, but they said it was "caused by subway construction underground".
“Things may be bad, but at least our streets don’t burp mystery goo,” the satirist said on the segment, joking that Nancy Drew and the Mystery Ooze of Nanjing would probably be the most disgusting of the detective series.