Monday, December 22, 2008

Strong-Willed Pig

The world has lately been a little bit blue. Toyota will lose money for the first time in 70 years; Bernard Madoff embezzled billions while kids in Zimbabwe scrape corns on the road for food; and a journalist tortured in jail for throwing a lousy shoe. I think perhaps we all need a little break from the heartbreak.

Full article at: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/22/asia/pig.php

HONG KONG-A pig that survived on charcoal and rainwater for 36 days while trapped under earthquake debris has been voted China's most inspirational animal for 2008, according to state media.

The 7.9-magnitude quake that struck Sichuan Province on May 12 collapsed schools, bridges, dams, houses - and a farm shed that trapped the pig. When it was finally rescued June 17, the animal was a mere slip of a thing at 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds, down from its pre-quake weight of 150 kilograms.

The farmers who owned the pig sold him for $430 to Fan Jianchuan, the owner of a private museum in the ancient town of Anren, near the city of Chengdu. Fan put the plucky survivor into a livestock exhibit at the museum and gave him a new name - Zhu Jianqiang, meaning Strong-Willed Pig. Fan also took out a 10-year life insurance policy on the pig, who became a nationwide media sensation.

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