I saw this in one of Beijing’s parks. People want to make some money, just like everywhere in the world. Some sing, some play music, some perform a few tricks. But it’s rare for anyone to draw much attention: passersby mostly just walk past, occasionally tossing a coin or two.
But this guy managed to pull off a brilliant business idea that attracted many curious onlookers, and they gladly parted with their money. They even rummaged through their pockets to pull out another coin, and then another.
Long story short, the man held a bird on his hand. When someone in the crowd placed a coin on their open palm, the bird would fly over, land on the hand, and carefully pick up the coin with its beak. Then it would fly back to its owner, and he would pocket the money.
Everyone wanted to try this little attraction with the bird, so they kept searching for more and more coins and were eager to hand them over. I’d say it was quite ingenious and elegant.
Curiously, the bird didn’t seem to like silver-colored coins, it preferred copper ones. In the first photo, it is looking at a silver coin, hesitating, though eventually it took it.
