[imagesource:weibo]

Authorities say the design of the North Nanjing train station in the Chinese city of Nanjing claims the design takes inspiration from plum blossoms, which the city is known for, but amused internet users reckon it rather resembles a sanitary pad.

According to the state-owned newspaper Nanjing Daily, the preliminary design was greenlit by the government of Jiangsu Province and China State Railway Group. Construction is due to begin in the first half of 2024

Images of the train station have generated millions of comments across various Chinese social media platforms, particularly on the social media site Weibo.

“This is a giant sanitary pad. It’s embarrassing to say it looks like a plum blossom,” said one comment, while another took a more positive spin: “I think we should take this chance to call for society to pay attention to period shaming. This design is ahead of its time.”

According to a 2017 report by news site the Nanjing Morning News, the train station is estimated to cost some 20 billion Chinese yuan (R50 billion) and will cover a total area of 37.6 square kilometres.

At least it won’t matter if the trains are late.

 

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[source:bbc]