Q: Dear Uncle Wang,

Many people went to see the yellow rubber duck over the past weekend. Why are people in Shanghai so interested in the duck?

A: More than 130,000 people visited Century Park in Pudong New Area over the weekend to see Rubber Duck, the giant floating art installation by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. On Saturday alone, about 70,000 people went to the park, the largest number of people to visit the park in two years, local media reported.

Due the crowds, the park's management actually took the step of advising people not to come. The park had to find an additional 60 security guards to maintain order.

The duck's popularity also gave rise to other business opportunities.

There were scalpers at the park's entrance selling tickets for 15 yuan ($2.45) - 5 yuan more than the price of admission to the park - to visitors who did not want to wait in line. There were also vendors selling knock-off rubber duck toys for 10 yuan outside of the park.

Rubber Duck attracted so many people last weekend because it was the first weekend the installation was open. Many people brought their families to see the duck. The nice autumn weather over the weekend also helped boost the number of visitors.

Another important reason was that people in Shanghai have been reading about the yellow rubber duck's travels around the world. It has been exhibited in Amsterdam, Sydney and Hong Kong, but it had never before come to the Chinese mainland. People are excited that the duck will finally be shown in Shanghai.

The huge popularity of the rubber duck also shows that people in Shanghai have an increasing appreciation for art and culture. After an exhibition or a performance is promoted in the media, people will just go to see it in the opening week, even if it means they have to queue up for hours.

For example, an exhibition of 40 original paintings by renowned French impressionist Claude Monet, which ran from March to June this year, attracted 7,000 visitors in the first weekend alone, according to the website of the K11 Art Foundation, which hosted the exhibition.

Although the exhibition's organizers asked for 100 yuan to see the paintings, people didn't mind paying a little to get close to the art they have read about, but not yet seen.

Of course, there are always a few people who don't care what is shown but just want to see something because it's famous. This is what is called cou renao in Chinese, which means people like to come along for the ride. Although Rubber Duck will remain on display for one more month, a lot of people had to see it right away.