A 52-year-old Taiwanese fruiterer found herself unexpectedly famous after the Wall Street Journal published a photograph of her to illustrate its story on Typhoon Megi.
The woman, whom Taiwan’s Apple Daily named as Mrs Dai, was chomping on a pork bun in the torrential rain when she was captured through the lens of an Associated Press photographer.
With the half-eaten bun in one hand, Mrs Dai appeared unfazed by the fact that her umbrella had already been blown inside-out by the typhoon’s winds, which hit a maximum speed of 200kmh.
She is the light of Taiwan, a legend for future generations. But where’d she buy the pork bun? #doingitright https://t.co/xRIaYV9MJC
— joey (@Mexkindude) September 29, 2016
“BuzzFeed News has reached out to Typhoon Pork Bun Woman’s family to ask her what it’s been like to end up as Taiwan’s newest national hero” pic.twitter.com/DslXPsXND5
— waffles (@wafflesmedia) September 28, 2016
#台灣 阿桑無畏風雨吃 #包子 ,意外紅遍國外媒體#台湾 #Taiwan #颱風 #台風 #梅姬 #Megi #台灣美食 #TaiwanFood #Youは何しに台湾へhttps://t.co/C18oxF8x00 pic.twitter.com/MgYtu883SA
— 台灣蘋果日報 Taiwan News (@TW_nextmedia) September 29, 2016
This is why Taiwan is legit my favourite place on earth. Typhoon, the umbrella you can have. But the pork bun? NO! pic.twitter.com/dvfFPntCn5
— Sarah Downes (@SDownesWSJ) September 28, 2016
Internet users applauded her. They saw Mrs Dai as choosing to prioritise her traditional snack in the face of imminent meteorological doom.
Some called it an iconic display of the Taiwanese national spirit.
One cartoon rendition of the scene was captioned, “You can have the umbrella, but not the bun!”
Mrs Dai is not enjoying her newfound fame, though.
Apple Daily reported that she thinks it is a stroke of ill fortune instead, and is now too afraid to head to work, fearing the public attention.
Typhoon Megi swept through Taiwan earlier this week, killing four and injuring more than 500.
