Denmark's embassy in Beijing promised Wednesday to pass on the culinary suggestions from Chinese Net users about how to deal with the country's infestation of a non-native oyster.
The social media response comes from a post on Sina Weibo by the embassy about the giant beds of Pacific oysters that for years have carpeted the country's Wadden Sea off the Jutland Peninsula.
The Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing told the Global Times in a written reply that they posted about the oysters after Danish media called upon the public for effective solutions.
While the embassy hoped to raise environmental awareness with the post, it was equally "thrilled" to receive tourism ideas and recipes on how to prepare the oysters, the embassy said.
Suggestions included starting "oyster eating tours" or "building oyster oil factories for export to China."
One netizen proposed preferential visa policies for hungry Chinese to help Denmark deal with its extra oysters. .
"Denmark should loosen up its visa policy, and make an 'oyster-eating visa' that allows multi-entry in 10 years, and each stay can be extended up to one month. In five years, the oyster [invasion problem] shall be no more," wrote "Li Chunliang Leon." The post was liked 10,000 times, one of which came from the Danish embassy.
Denmark would be happy to export the oysters with approval from the Chinese government, the embassy told the Global Times.
However the embassy demurred on the visa idea. "We don't think 'eating them up' is really a good way to solve the problem," said the written reply.
Originally from Asia, Pacific oysters were introduced to Denmark about a decade ago and have since grown into an invasive species, according to the post on the embassy's official Sino Weibo account.
But Denmark has long profited off the pestilence, offering tourists seasonal guided tours to harvest the oysters by the kilogram.
"Come to Denmark and have some oysters, let's make it a date," read the embassy post on Sina Weibo Monday.
