<!-- mobian-agent-page publisher="time" canonical="https://time.com/3752151/china-road-catfish/" -->

---
description: 15,000 lb. of catfish were strewn across a road in China and with the help of the community, the shipment was not wasted
title: Bringing a whole new meaning to the term &#x27;street food&#x27;
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaa5209c2f5f32a3/6987847a55a859f484a86640/spill-catfish-china-6800.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
---

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaa5209c2f5f32a3/6987847a55a859f484a86640/spill-catfish-china-6800.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)

* [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/)  
## Newsfeed  

Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/)  
Close

# This Road in China Got Covered in Almost 15,000 Lb. of Live Catfish


by 

[Kevin McSpadden](/author/kevin-mcspadden/)


## Kevin McSpadden


Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/)

Close

Mar 20, 2015 8:52 AM CUT

![Thousands Of Kilograms Of Catfish Scatter In Kaili](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaa5209c2f5f32a3/6987847a55a859f484a86640/spill-catfish-china-6800.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Thousands of kilograms of catfish scatter across the road in the Kaili Development Zone in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture on March 17, 2015, in Kaili, Guizhou province of China

Thousands of kilograms of catfish scatter across the road in the Kaili Development Zone in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture on March 17, 2015, in Kaili, Guizhou province of ChinaChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

by 

[Kevin McSpadden](/author/kevin-mcspadden/)


## Kevin McSpadden


Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/)

Close

Mar 20, 2015 8:52 AM CUT

When the door of a delivery truck in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou swung open, [15,000 lb. (6,800 kg) of catfish](http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/18/6800-kilos-fish-spilled-guizhou-road-rescued-hoses.php "undefined") came spilling out, covering the road in a flopping, scaly mess.

Remarkably, with the help of community members and the local fire department, a two-hour rescue effort was undertaken and the shipment was not wasted, according to the Shanghaiist_._ Their task was arduous but simple — workers basically sprayed the fish with water to keep them alive while others picked them up and returned them to the truck.

And thanks to their efforts, these fish out of water finally made it to the dinner table.

![Thousands Of Kilograms Of Catfish Scatter In Kaili](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb4e16eb8e0c46d9/6987847ae53abaacdf4d82ac/china-catfish-spill-68001.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp)

With the help of fire crews of Development Zone Squadron in Qiandongnan Fire Detachment and local people, the catfish were loaded on the truck again. ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images

![Thousands of kilograms of catfish scatter across the road in the Kaili Development Zone in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture on March 17, 2015 in Kaili, Guizhou province of China](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578b0c54ba4358bd/698784792dce01d7e99de226/6800-spill-catfish-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp)

Thousands of kilograms of catfish scatter across the road in the Kaili Development Zone in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture on March 17, 2015 in Kaili, Guizhou province of China ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images

\[[_Shanghaiist_](http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/18/6800-kilos-fish-spilled-guizhou-road-rescued-hoses.php "undefined")\]

```json
[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3752151/china-road-catfish/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3752151/china-road-catfish/"},"headline":"This Road in China Got Covered in Almost 15,000 Lb. of Live Catfish","datePublished":"2015-03-20T08:52:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:51.978Z","description":"Bringing a whole new meaning to the term street food","url":"https://time.com/3752151/china-road-catfish/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food","Internet","viral","China","Accident","World","fish"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaa5209c2f5f32a3/6987847a55a859f484a86640/spill-catfish-china-6800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin McSpadden","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfaa5209c2f5f32a3/6987847a55a859f484a86640/spill-catfish-china-6800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Thousands Of Kilograms Of Catfish Scatter In Kaili","caption":"Thousands Of Kilograms Of Catfish Scatter In Kaili","creditText":"ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3752151/china-road-catfish/","name":"This Road in China Got Covered in Almost 15,000 Lb. of Live Catfish"}}]}]
```
