President-elect Donald Trump may be willing to start a trade war with Beijing, but his political ascension has been as much a source of mirth in China as disquiet.
The latest exhibit: A local journalist in the eastern city of Hangzhou noticed that a golden pheasant in Hangzhou Safari Park had plumage on its head that was remarkably similar to Trump’s blond coif. Pictures of the bird — a 5-year-old known as “Little Red” — soon went viral on Chinese social media.
The supposed similarity had Chinese netizens in stitches, as Shanghaiist noted.
“Trump to wife: ‘Honestly, I’ve never even been to Hangzhou!'” quipped one commenter on social media.
“Trump should financially support this bird until he graduates from university,” another said.
The Daily Mail reached the bird’s caretaker, who confirmed that the U. S. election had raised the profile of the pheasant thousands of miles away.
“I had not noticed the likeness in the past because I had not paid particular attention to the pheasant’s hairstyle,” the man, surnamed Gao, said. “But after Trump was elected President of America, I start seeing more pictures of him and I think the pheasant looks a little bit like him.”
He added: “I expect more tourists to come to our zoo to see the pheasant now that he has been in the news.”
The British tabloid also recounted other jokes made by Chinese netizens:
Another Sina user joked: ‘As a matter of fact, the pheasant is better looking than Trump.’
One person said on another Chinese news site QQ.com: ‘Not only does the pheasant’s appearance looks like Trump, its facial expression looks like Trump’s too.
‘Look at its eyes, they are very similar [to Trump’s]. The only difference is the man doesn’t have a beak.’
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