The riddle of Shanghai’s green duck: if it’s the shade of grass and a chicken, is it just a rumour?
- Authorities in the locked-down city reject suggestions that residents were given suspiciously coloured poultry
- The photos of the bird originated in Guangzhou, government says on rumour-busting website
According to the post circulated widely on social media platform WeChat, the ducks were given to residents in Zhoupu township in Pudong district last week as part of a supply of free daily essentials from the community.
But the municipal government dismissed the suggestion, saying the pictures in the post related to an incident in the southern city of Guangzhou and the duck in the picture was in fact a chicken.
Citing the Shanghai government’s rumour-busting platform, the Xinmin Evening News reported on Saturday that the photos of the green bird came from a web user who was trying to cook a traditional Guangdong dish of boiled chicken.
The chicken mysteriously turned green during the cooking process so the man posted photos of it on social media to try to work out what had happened, the report said.
The report said the Zhoupu government distributed food essentials, including ducks, at the start of April but had not received any complaints from residents about green ducks.
“The internet is still governed by law. The police authority will firmly crack down on the crimes of fabricating and spreading rumours and disturbing social order,” the police said in the rumour-busting website Piyao.jfdaily.com.