Authentic Yellow Rubber Duck Chain Explosions: Douliu’s “Knockoff Duck” Survives Over 3 Months, Quite a Stayer

▲The Keelung yellow rubber duck suddenly exploded on the last day of 2013, leaving many duck-viewing visitors stunned. (Photo/Screen capture from Chung Jonathan’s personal Facebook page)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Are Taiwan’s yellow rubber ducks not acclimated to the northern climate? After the “Taoyuan Duck” popped, the Keelung Duck—which had confidently declared before the exhibition, “It definitely won’t pop!”—also met its explosive fate, “dying suddenly” after just over 10 days on display. Compared to the fragility of the “official” duck, many locally-spawned “knockoff versions” across Taiwan have proven remarkably resilient. One such “knockoff duck” in Yunlin County has survived for more than three months already!

Located within Shuiyue Ting Leisure Farm in Douliu City, Yunlin County, the estate boasts expansive garden greenery. Back in mid-September 2013, when the yellow rubber duck was making its way to Kaohsiung, the farm decided—so that locals wouldn’t have to travel all the way to Glory Pier to see the duck—to foot the bill themselves and create a 7-meter-tall yellow rubber duck, installing it in the pond on the premises as a welcoming attraction. Not only has it remained unscathed to this day, but thanks to the owner’s meticulous maintenance and Yunlin’s pleasant climate, this “knockoff duck” still looks brand new and even fresher than the “Keelung Duck.”

Since the arrival of the yellow rubber duck, the farm has attracted many visitors on weekends who come to see the duck, dine, and enjoy the outdoors. Yesterday, coinciding with the New Year holiday and blessed with unusually fine weather, many families turned out with tickets in hand to view the duck. The owner estimates that business has increased by at least 20 percent.

▲Douliu’s “knockoff duck” leisurely floats in the pond, taking in the beautiful scenery every day. Since the end of September 2013 to now, it has not only survived for over three months but also remains in pristine condition. (Photo/Courtesy ofShuiyue Ting Leisure Farm’s official Facebook page)

%Following the sudden explosion and deflation of the rubber duck during its exhibition in Anshan in early November 2013, a sight still vivid in the memories of duck fans, who would’ve thought that just a month and a half later, the Keelung Duck would suffer the same fate. (Photo/Provided by netizen Xiao Rui)