

This is the curious tale of a 78-year-old man and his “giant cock.”

Back in the late 1970s, Wang Genliang received a gift from his friend of a tiny Chinese holly bush. At the time, the shrub was no more than 20 or 30cm tall.

In the ensuing 40 years, that bush has grown up quite a bit. Thanks to Wang’s tender love and care, it now stands at an impressive 2.5 meters tall and can be seen from afar. Two or three times a year, Wang hauls out his ladder to trim the bush to make sure it retains its perfect rooster-shape.



With the Year of the Rooster now upon us , Wang’s creation has become the talk of his village in Jiangsu province. He says that every day people show up to take pictures with it.He also confessed that one person had offered 100,000 yuan for his giant rooster bush, but Wang rejected the offer. “I couldn’t bear to part with it,” he told reporters. “It is my pastime and I don’t want to sell it for money.”Chinese netizens think that Wang was a fool for not taking that sweet deal.“You should have sold it off! For 100,000 yuan you could buy a whole nursery of plants!” wrote one netizen.“100,000 yuan? Bullshit, I wouldn’t pay 10 yuan for it,” added another.Admittedly, we would be a bit more impressed if Wang’s bush bore more of a resemblance to this year’s mascot [Images via NetEase