Love birds inspire Chinese creativity

An image of a goose kissing another "goodbye" that went viral on Valentine's Day has inspired the online community.

The original photo, taken in south China's Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, featured two geese, one tied on the back of a motorbike and another craning its neck to seemingly kiss its fellow fowl farewell.

The photo has been reposted more than 400,000 times on microblogging site Sina Weibo, and the image which was shared on Twitter by Xinhua registered more than 60,000 likes and reposts from across the world.

Some called the love birds the Romeo and Juliet of the avian world. Some wordsmiths even penned responses to the image, such as one by online poet Li Kuan: "See thy off at the end of the village road when sunset stretches our shadow; never shall we meet again, and let's kiss a last farewell."

While those with a dry sense of humor posted photographs of roasted geese, saying that the couple were finally reunited on the dinner table.

Many people were keen to describe what happened next to the geese, and stories quickly began circulating online -- there were as many imagined happy endings as those intended as tear jerkers.

"They live happily ever after and raise a nestful of goslings," netizen "yijielufu" said.

In another response, the male has a change of heart and falls in love with a dog. The accompanying picture shows a goose embracing a dog.

The true story, according to Modern Express, a local newspaper in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, is more heartbreaking.

The owner of the geese, Miss Deng, confirmed that the female goose had been sold and the male one has been eaten.

"The photo brought out sympathy in many," said Hu Yiqing, professor at School of Journalism and Communication with Nanjing University.

Interesting stories can be inspired by sometime as simple as an ordinary photo, the whole story is a powerful illustration that the Internet can be a place of inspiration and creativity, Hu said. Endit