MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: THE NOT SO MYSTERIOUS HUANG SHULANG OF BEIJING

In June I found the blog ` New Territories `, (not to be confused with the part of Hong Kong called the New Territories).This blog had an entry which intrigued me, by SHC on October 26^th 2010, about what then was thought to be a mystery, the Huang Shulang. Which turns out to a bit of an urban myth. Read on…

“Several months ago, I saw some kind of furry, long-bodied creature dart under the bushes in an apartment complex in Haidan. A ferret? In Beijing? I even asked the gatekeeper of the complex, who insisted I had seen a cat. I also remembered some friends describing a strange “ squirrel-like” animal native to Beijing – could this be it? Just a few nights ago, I spotted another one, ambling along in the street-light between some cars, and a bit of internet research seems to have solved the mystery. According to Danwei, what I saw was likely a huang shulang…aka the Yellow Weasel (or more technically the Siberian Weasel, mustela sibirica). They are still apparently quite common in Beijing, especially in the hutongs, and a sighting is considered either good luck or bad luck (depending , I think, on whether you raise chickens). I hope I`m lucky enough to see one again.” (1)

The Yellow Weasel turned up in Hong Kong records for the first time in the very late 20^th Century or early 21^st.

On the question of this Weasel and chickens, see: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080722213119AAdVg4G

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_D4xwdEky4&feature=player_embedded#!