This past weekend got off to an unusual start on the Nanjing Metro network, when a woman boarded the day’s first train with a collection of slaughtered chickens to then create a makeshift stall in attempts, to sell the poultry that fall foul (pun intended) of Metro regulations.
The incident occurred on Nanjing Metro Line 10 at about 06:00, shortly after the network opened last Saturday, 6 November.
At this time, there were very few passengers, but that lack of prospective customers did not stop the lady from setting up her stall, for which she laid out eight dead chickens on the floor of the carriage, together with a basket, yoke and other sundry items.
Her entrepreneurial antics were filmed by one of the few other passengers, with the mini movie then posted on various video platforms, including YouTube. The bizarre 12-second clip has now attracted over 6 million views.
The video also garnered a multitude of comments, some scorning the woman’s behaviour and others delighting in it. But most just found dead chickens on the floor of the carriage to be rather unsanitary.
“Are the staff asleep?”, asked one, questioning how the woman was able to get on the Metro in the first place. “Wonderful!”, said another. “Selling in the carriage is really a little unreasonable. After all, it is a public place”, commented another viewer.
It was also not long before the impromptu chicken hawker was recognised. It was claimed that the woman is from Jiangpu in Pukou District and can often be seen on the number 510 bus.
And selling chickens, or attempting to, would appear to be the woman’s specialty. It has been said that if someone asks the woman for a price but then doesn’t make a purchase, they will soon be cajoled into buying.
Nanjing subway staff later confirmed that slaughtered chickens may be brought on to the Metro so long as they are properly packaged, but that setting up a stall to sell items on the train, especially livestock, foul or otherwise, is a definite no no.
