As Taiwan surveys the damage wreaked by supertyphoon Souledor over the weekend, including at least seven confirmed dead and 100 missing, locals are finding some lighthearted relief in what is otherwise a dark situation — namely, in two mailboxes in Taipei’s Zhongshan district that have been christened the country’s newest stars after surviving high-intensity wind.
The mailboxes remained upright throughout the storm, but at a cost evident in the newly quizzical tilt of their metal heads and slant of the poles connecting them to the ground. It’s an image that netizens are exploiting for whimsical photos on Instagram and Twitter, labeled with the hashtag #郵筒, which means “#mailbox.”
The meme has spread with such ferocity that at some points early this week there was a line of people patiently waiting for a moment with the inanimate celebrities.
Philip Ong, head of the local postal system, told the Taipei Times that there are plans to turn the mailboxes into official tourist attractions, including a historical plaque and even possible t-shirts and other tie-in paraphernalia. The boxes will also be lightly refurbished and will continue to serve their original purpose, albeit rather more adored than their postal peers.
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