When Italian-American artist Arturo Di Modica set his 'Charging Bull' bull in front of the New York Stock Exchange in 1989, he did so stealthily, in the middle of the night. Within hours, the exchange had it removed. Only a public outcry prompted the city to 'temporarily' place it nearby in Lower Manhattan - where the bull has been ever since.

No such trepidation greeted Di Modica's new bull for Shanghai (read more here and here). When the commissioned sculpture was unveiled Saturday morning, it was standing on its own red carpet. To applause, local government financial affairs officials, led by Vice Mayor Tu Guangshang, pulled back a red velvet covering on the surprisingly large, reddish bull.

Fang Xinghai, director general of financial services office for Shanghai's government, used a speech at the ceremony to suggest Deng Xiaoping would have approved, quoting China's economic reformarchitect as underscoring the importance of financialsystem development to an economy's health.

Speaking in Italian, Di Modica said his 'gift' to China reflects how impressed he is with the country.

Left unexplained was the positioning of the bull's posterior: its high backside is squarely directed at the lions outside a 1923 neoclassical building across the street that was originally Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. headquarters and which long represented the city's colonial past; the bull's eyes, in turn, gaze in the direction of Shanghai's modern Pudong financial district on the opposite side of the river - though that view is blocked by a wall.

On Saturday the bull's face actually looked at steps to a temporary stage for a riverside Dior fashion show and all night party.

Di Modica says his new bronze bull is styled to appear younger, representing the vibrancy of China, but is otherwiseidentical in size and weight to Manhattan's version. The New York bull is a much photographed, climbed and stroked sculpture, a globally recognized icon.

Once the Shanghai dignitaries finished posing with what they are calling the 'Bund Financial Bull' - a local magistrate was the first to rub the bull's 'lucky' male anatomical parts - crowds poured in for their own photographs and kept coming all weekend.

The immediate enthusiasm seemed to suggest the Bund Bull may become a symbol for Shanghai as it has for New York.

Yet, there to block the ordinary folks from actuallytouching their new bull, at least for now, is a rope encircling the sculpture and security guards to keep them away from the sacred cow Shanghai hopes will bring it financial luck.

James T. Areddy

• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
• carpet [´kɑ:pit] n.地毯 vt.铺地毯 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• velvet [´velvit] n.&a.天鹅绒(般的) (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• ceremony [´seriməni] n.典礼；礼仪；客气 (初中英语单词)
• reform [ri´fɔ:m] v.&n.改革；改良；革除 (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm] n.系统，体系，制度 (初中英语单词)
• italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
• headquarters [´hed,kwɔ:təz] n.总部(署)，司令部 (初中英语单词)
• colonial [kə´ləuniəl] a.(关于)殖民地的 (初中英语单词)
• actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
• enthusiasm [in´θju:ziæzəm] n.热心；狂热；爱好 (初中英语单词)
• security [si´kjuəriti] n.安全；证券；抵押品 (初中英语单词)
• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
• sculpture [´skʌlptʃə] n.雕塑(品)；雕刻(术) (高中英语单词)
• applause [ə´plɔ:z] n.鼓掌；欢呼；称赞 (高中英语单词)
• architect [´ɑ:kitekt] n.建筑师 (高中英语单词)
• originally [ə´ridʒənəli] ad.本来；独创地 (高中英语单词)
• temporary [´tempərəri] a.暂时的 n.临时工 (高中英语单词)
• bronze [brɔnz] n.青铜(器) (高中英语单词)
• identical [ai´dentikəl] a.完全相同的 (高中英语单词)
• symbol [´simbəl] n.符号；象征 (高中英语单词)
• outcry [´autkrai] n.喊叫；强烈抗议 (英语四级单词)
• manhattan [mæn´hætən] n.曼哈顿 (英语四级单词)
• reddish [´rediʃ] a.带红色的；微红的 (英语四级单词)
• squarely [´skwɛəli] ad.成方形地；正直地 (英语四级单词)
• banking [´bæŋkiŋ] n.银行业 (英语四级单词)
• version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译；说明；译本 (英语四级单词)
• touching [´tʌtʃiŋ] a.动人的 prep.提到 (英语四级单词)
• stealthily [´stelθili] ad.偷偷地，隐秘地 (英语六级单词)
• surprisingly [sə´praiziŋli] ad.惊人地；意外地 (英语六级单词)
• riverside [´rivəsaid] n.河岸 a.河岸上的 (英语六级单词)
• calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)