A smiling pig has become China’s newest online celebrity after a photograph showing it being saved from flooding in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region went viral online recently.
The pig was raised by a farmer in Danliao Village in the city of Qinzhou, according to authorities with China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, which is close to the village.
Qinzhou was recently battered by heavy downpours, causing the water in local rivers to exceed warning levels leading to severe flooding, said Wu Fengyou, with the park.
“The village is located on low-lying land, so it was badly affected by flooding. Houses and animals were submerged in the water,” Wu said. “We sent rescuers to help with the evacuation.”
In the photograph that went viral, two rescuers in green uniforms can be seen lifting the pig out of the water by its ears and legs, while the animal appears to be smiling from ear to ear.
According to one of the rescuers, the picture was taken on Aug. 17 at a pig farm. Photographs provided by the rescuers showed that water levels in the area had risen to knee high, submerging parts of the farm. Two other pigs were also saved.
“I’m blown away by the pig’s facial expression!” the rescuer wrote on his personal Sina Weibo microblog account with the photographs attached.
The photograph struck a chord with many Chinese. A post containing memes of the pig had been forwarded more than 4,000 times and drawn about 3,000 comments as of 12:30 p.m. Monday.
