THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | CHINA

CHINA REAL TIME REPORT

May 22, 2013, 12:19 AM

Big Yellow Duck Is Revived in Victoria Harbor

After a lightning storm and sheets of heavy rain drenched Victoria Harbor this week, Hong Kong celebrated the return of its much-beloved giant inflatable yellow duck Tuesday night.

Reuters

Rubber Duck by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman floats near Ocean Terminal at Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on May 2. The duck was deflated for maintenance reasons on May 14. See more photos.

Crowds of several hundred gathered in the afternoon armed with cameras and tripods to watch the six-story duck—an installation by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman—get re-inflated at its perch outside Harbour City mall, which commissioned the project. The process took several hours as the duck slowly unfurled and swelled again with air as it was held aloft by a crane.
The beaming duck toy had attracted hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists from across the region before it was deflated last week for maintenance, prompting a devastated outcry on social media, with fans theorizing that it had been felled by avian flu.
On Tuesday, Harbour City announced via its Facebook page that the duck was re-inflated, posting an image of its smiling re-inflated body juxtaposed against Hong Kong’s nighttime skyline with the caption, “Thanks for all the support everyone! I’m back!”
The message prompted 7,500 “likes” within a few hours and scores of well-wishing messages for the duck. “Welcome back!!!!! Lovely Duck” and “You’re finally returned, SO happy!”
Prior to its Tuesday re-inflation, a number of Hong Kong locals had made the trek to visit a remote part of the city where the duck was being checked and repaired, taking photos of its limp body and posting them to social media.
Elsewhere in Hong Kong on Tuesday night, others were happy to hear the duck had been reborn. “I haven’t seen the duck yet, I work too hard,” said one janitor in the city’s busy Causeway Bay neighborhood. “It was too crowded to go before. But I am happy to hear it’s come back. People were worried that it had really died.”
Harbour City said last week that after 10 days of being on display, the duck—which first sailed into Victoria Harbor on May 2—needed maintenance after being buffeted by strong waves. The duck, which has previously made appearances in nine countries around the world, is scheduled to remain in Hong Kong until June 9 before it travels to the U.S., where its next port of call hasn’t yet been disclosed.
– Te-Ping Chen with contributions from Duncan Mavin