【英语中国】上海“烤鸭船”雷倒网民

This ferry, launched on the Huangpu River in Shanghai on Monday, was adapted by a group of Chinese artists to resemble a crisp roast duck with a feathery yellow head.

But while it's apparently a tribute to Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's beloved floating 'Rubber Duck,' which made a huge splash when it arrived in Hong Kong in May, onlookers and online commentators say the new boat is nothing to quack home about.

'I feel ashamed that a metropolis like Shanghai showcases such a strange artwork ... it cannot be called an artwork actually,' a resident told the state-run Shanghai Daily. The publication also noted that Weibo, Sina's Twitter-like microblogging service, was abuzz Monday with critical comments, while pictures of the work were 'reposted thousands of times.'

On Tuesday, Chinese microbloggers were still expressing their bemusement. Many used emoticons of yawning or laughing faces to convey their feelings about the duck boat's appearance.

'Really? Copycats...No wonder foreigners say that what we specialize in on the mainland is rip-off goods,' wrote one.

'Apart from the head, the entire body looks like a duck carcass stripped down to the bones,' commented another.

Other microbloggers called it an 'international joke,' with one quipping, 'The river sure has a lot of trash.'

'Ha, I'm laughing so hard,' one user wrote. 'Before, it was a yellow duck,' the user added, referring to the large yellow bird that charmed Hong Kong earlier this year. 'Who would've thought that Shanghai was so hot that it would become roasted yellow duck?'

The boat will be on exhibition for a month as part of a government-backed art project. The artist who led its design, Han Beishi, told Shanghai Daily that the work was a metaphor for Shanghai's 'scorching' summer weather and a reminder to take care of the environment.

What do you think of the duck? Does it live up to the original 'Rubber Duck' that inspired it?

Reuters
周一出现在上海黄浦江上的这艘轮渡船是由一群中国艺术家改造成的，模仿一只脆皮烤鸭，船头是一个看上去毛茸茸的黄色鸭头。

尽管这显然是在向荷兰艺术家霍夫曼(Florentijn Hofman)受人喜爱的“大黄鸭”致敬，但旁观者和网民却说，这艘新船并不值得夸赞。大黄鸭5月份抵达香港时曾受到热烈欢迎。

一位居民对《上海日报》(Shanghai Daily)说，像上海这样的大都市展示这样一个奇怪的艺术品令我感到羞愧，它甚至都不应被称为艺术品。《上海日报》的报道还指出，新浪(Sina)微博周一的相关讨论十分热烈，其中不乏犀利的评论，这个作品的图片被转发了成千上万次。

周二，中国微博用户仍在表达他们对此的困惑。许多人用打呵欠或大笑的表情图片表达他们对于这艘“烤鸭船”外观的感受。

一名微博用户写道，真的吗？抄袭……难怪外国人说中国大陆擅长的就是做假。

另一名用户评论说，除了头以外，整个身子看上去就像只剩骨头的鸭子残骸。

还有一些微博用户称之为“国际笑话”，有人讽刺说，这条江还真是充满了垃圾。

一位用户写道，哈，我要笑死了。以前它是只黄鸭子（指今年早些时候在香港展现魅力的大黄鸭），谁知上海太热了，成了烤黄鸭。

这艘船将展出一个月，这是政府支持的一个艺术活动的一部分。负责设计的艺术家韩北石告诉《上海日报》，这个作品隐喻上海炎热的夏日天气，同时提醒人们保护环境。

你对这只鸭子有何看法？它能否与激发其灵感的原版“大黄鸭”相提并论？