BEIJING –
Residents on a street in China finally said good riddance Friday to a
car, almost completely engulfed by foliage, which has become a social
media sensation since it was abandoned a year ago.
The old,
blue-colored van was dubbed ‘Zombie Car’ by social media users after it
was reportedly left by its owner in a parking space on Peace Road in
Huayang village, Sichuan province sometime in 2012.
In China, abandoned cars are known colloquially as “jiangshiche,” or
“zombie cars.” But the Huayang example, hidden almost completely by
leaves, quickly became the most famous zombie car in China, with
pictures circulated on social media.
Police tried to remove the
vines, but they were so thick and thorny that it was decided the vehicle
should be towed away with the green foliage in place – a bizarre sight
for other drivers.
Officials used the license plate to identify the original owner, Wang
Ping. He told police he had sold the vehicle three years ago but
couldn’t remember anything about the buyer.
“This is definitely
an authentic creepy zombie car… why is it so scary??!!” wrote one user
on China’s twitter-like service, Weibo, “Maybe I’ve just watched too
many zombie movies.”
“This zombie car is so cool, we cannot even recognize it as a car,” gushed another commenter, “I thought it was a wall covered with vines!!”
NBC News’ Chenyue Zhu and Pei Huang contributed to this report.
NBC NEWS
