A 5.2-meter-tall puppy sculpture made of grass and flowers located in Jing'an District, east China's Shanghai, has gone viral since its debut at the 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show for its vivid, adorable yet slightly scruffy appearance, making it a popular "photo star" of the city.
To ensure residents and visitors capture good photos with the "puppy", nicknamed "Scruffy Puppy" by netizens, staff from related departments have provided it with regular "grooming and maintenance" to keep it vibrant. In response to visitors' concerns about photo taking in the nighttime, staff even worked in the rain to install spotlights to ensure the "puppy" can "glow" at night.
Jing'an District has also turned the puppy into an animated character and use light projections to make it "run" freely on the walls of buildings along the Suzhou River.
As more and more residents and tourists expressed online their willingness to keep the "puppy" sculpture after the flower show ended, Jing'an District confirmed recently that the "business hours" of the "puppy" has been extended and that more long-term and scientific maintenance measures will be implemented.
In addition, the local government has launched an online public campaign to solicit suggestions for an official name for the "puppy".
The "puppy" has sparked lasting enthusiasm. Statistics show that from the flower show's opening on April 18 till May 5, over 1.7 million visitors were recorded in a nearby shopping mall, an increase of 192 percent as compared with the same period of last year. Among the visitors, 41 percent were domestic visitors from outside Shanghai and 2.7 percent were overseas visitors, generating a total consumption of more than 61.5 million yuan.
Beyond these numbers, what truly matters is the warmth of a city willing to take care of such a scruffy "puppy" and to honor every wish of its citizens. (Edited by Li Xueqing with Xinhua Silk Road, lixueqing@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
