Giant rubber duck quacks off to Taiwan
Thousands of people crowd the waterfront on the last day to see a giant duck (R), conceived by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, in Hong Kong on June 9, 2013. Thousands said farewell to the giant inflatable yellow rubber duck which has captivated Hong Kong for the past month, before it heads to the United States. AFP PHOTO / RICHARD A. BROOKS (Photo credit should read RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images)
An enormous rubber duck art installation is leaving China and making waves for Taiwan, where a new incarnation of the now-iconic duckie will be created.
The newly forged duck will take up temporary residence at Kaohsiung's Glory Dock from September 19th to October 20th, then will move onwards to the city of Taoyuan, writes Kyodo News.
Read more from GlobalPost: Hong Kong cries fowl as giant rubber duck deflates
Measuring over 59 feet tall, the new rubber duckie will be the largest in Asia, writes Focus Taiwan, and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu anticipates the creature will bring in a whopping $33.4 million in revenue.
The enormous duckie was a major hit in Hong Kong, where it attracted thousands of amused onlookers during its stint at Victoria Harbour — and many were sad to see the adorable art installation reduced to a deflated hockey puck when the showing finally finished in June.
The ducks began their international tour in 2007, and appear to have found a particularly passionate following in Asia. Taiwanese travel agencies were even selling "visiting the duck" trips to Hong Kong during its stay there, notes The Star.
Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman posted an image of him sewing together a new duck in his studio on July 9th, uploaded to his Facebook page.
"The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation," wrote Hofman of his work. "The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them."