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Watermelon Babies Of China: Your Friday Moment Of Zen

<strong>Mom, I'm not so sure about this: </strong>An example of the photos of babies dressed as watermelons being shared by Chinese Internet users.
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Mom, I'm not so sure about this: An example of the photos of babies dressed as watermelons being shared by Chinese Internet users.

Babies come in pretty cute packaging — we're pretty sure it has something to do with Mother Nature wanting you to coo over a burping, pooping little freeloader. But now Chinese Internet users have found a way to one-up nature: They're wrapping those already adorable babes in watermelons.

Yep, watermelons.

Apparently, the melon children meme started circulating in July, when this little guy dressed in watermelon overalls showed up on the streets of Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang province, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reports.

Wenzhou's little trendsetter
/ Screengrab from Xinhuanet
/
Screengrab from Xinhuanet
Wenzhou's little trendsetter

Photos of the tiny Wenzhou watermelon fashionista soon inspired a wave of online imitators, many looking dapper in melon caps, including this swashbuckling little tyke, according to Chinese media reports.

Warrior melon ...
/ Weibo/roll.sohu.com
/
Weibo/roll.sohu.com
Warrior melon ...

(In the middle of a record-setting summer heat wave, Chinese parents have to find something to amuse themselves, right?)

As Brian Ashcraft writes over at Kotaku, "not all parents in China are dressing their kids in melon wear, and there isn't an army of watermelon children roaming the street. However, this does seem to be a thing." Duly noted.

Of course, the concept of photographing produce-wrapped bundles of joy is hardly new. Photographer Anne Geddes became famous (and rich) with her iconic images of infants as pumpkins, peas in a pod and, you guessed it, watermelon babies. Perhaps Geddes will consider the current Chinese meme a more appropriate tribute to her art than this Vice spoof. (Oof!)

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Maria Godoy is a senior science and health editor and correspondent with NPR News. Her reporting can be heard across NPR's news shows and podcasts. She is also one of the hosts of NPR's Life Kit.