On 17 February China will celebrate the start of the year of the horse, the zodiac sign symbolising high energy and hard work. But the runaway success of a defective stuffed toy suggests that many Chinese are not feeling the vibe. A red horse toy produced by Happy Sister in the city of Yiwu in the west of China was meant to wear a broad grin, but a factory error meant it hit the shops sporting a despairing grimace. “People joked that the crying horse is how you look at work, while the smiling one is how you look after work,” Zhang Huoqing, owner of Happy Sister, told Reuters. Meanwhile, wholesale orders for the “crying horse” have been placed from South Africa, east Asia and the Middle East.

Source: The Guardian January 28, 2026 10:52 UTC