One-month-old tiger triplets on show in Chongqing, China
By admin on 2014-12-26

    A wildlife park in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality put its one-month-old tiger triplets on show Saturday, allowing visitors to cuddle and pose for photos with the three cats.

    The tigers soon found favor with tourists, who queued to cuddle the animal.

    Though the year of tiger officially starts on Feb. 14, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Day, tiger has apparently beaten its predecessor, the ox, to be the pet of 2010.

    Wang Wei, a Beijing-based government employee, is expecting her baby in May. "My husband and I actually planned for the baby to be born a tiger," she said, "because tiger is traditionally considered auspicious."

    The Chinese believe the king of the jungle is vigorous and would bring peace. The animal is also the traditional guardian of wealth.

    Wang's mother has sewn dainty baby shoes and hats in the shape of tigers. She also embroidered a tiger on every piece of clothing she sewed for the baby.

    Similar products are also selling well at Chinese B2C websites." Sales have been increasing by 30 percent a day in the recent two months," said a netizen named "Ding Gua Gua" (meaning superb), who ran an online store at Taobao.com. "I think business will remain good until mid February."

    Homemade tiger mascots, a traditional product of Changzhi in the northern Shanxi Province and Weifang in the eastern Shandong Province, have found renewed favor with tourists and locals alike.

    At one village on the suburbs of Changzhi City, hundreds of the mascots are sewn daily with red cloth and stuffed with cotton. The smallest of them are about the size of an egg, while the biggest are about the size of a pillow.

    Tiger is the third of all 12 Chinese birth signs, which also include rat, ox, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.