Official Chinese Government-Backed Paper: 'Hey, How'd You Like a Taste of Wuhan?'

No bats were harmed in the making of this tweet. Well, not that we know of.

One of China’s state-backed newspapers has apparently deleted a tweet promoting the food scene in the city of Wuhan, after being criticized for celebrating the culinary culture in the place where the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic originated.

People’s Daily—the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party—sent the tweet as the city ended its lockdown that began on January 23.

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People’s Daily came under fire for its tweet, which declared: “Have a taste of Wuhan! Let these mouth-watering specialties in Wuhan satisfy your stomach.”

And ruin the whole world!

Here’s a screenshot of the now-deleted tweet. As you might imagine, what with the global pandemic arising from Wuhan — and possibly from its madcap cuisine scene — the tweet didn’t go over too well.

Screenshot of People’s Daily tweet promoting Wuhan cuisine. Source: Twitter.

Bloomberg reports that Wuhan’s wet markets, which may or may not be where the deadly pandemic started, have re-opened.

Bryan Preston is the author of Hubble’s Revelations: The Amazing Time Machine and Its Most Important Discoveries.