A Chinese man has left stomachs churning across the internet after being filmed calmly sipping cold tea from a plastic cup containing a live frog, treating the wriggling amphibian like the latest trendy milk tea topping.
In the 15-second clip that has exploded online, the heavyset man, wearing a black T-shirt, holds up a clear takeaway cup complete with lid and straw. Inside, a live frog can clearly be seen thrashing about in murky water. Undeterred, he repeatedly puts the straw to his lips and takes long, deliberate sips while staring straight ahead as if enjoying a perfectly normal beverage.
The footage, which appears to have been filmed both indoors near a shop counter and later outdoors at a night market with red plastic chairs and string lights in the background, has been widely shared as originating from Shenyang in north-east China. Local reports claim the man was attempting to “enjoy the first cup of milk tea of the season”, albeit with a rather unconventional ingredient.
Netizens were quick to express their horror. “I nearly threw up watching this,” one viewer wrote, while others asked how anyone could put their mouth near the cup, let alone swallow the liquid the frog had been swimming in. Thai social media users were particularly vocal, with one popular account declaring: “Chinese people put live frogs in milk tea cups and drink the water. I have to hand it to them.
”Animal welfare concerns and basic hygiene questions have flooded the comments. Critics pointed out the obvious risks of bacteria, parasites and whatever else a live frog might introduce into a drink. Others dismissed the whole episode as a pure attention-seeking stunt designed purely to go viral, a growing trend of extreme “challenge” videos on Chinese platforms that prioritise shock value over sense.
The man himself has not publicly commented, and it remains unclear whether the frog survived the ordeal or what became of the cup’s contents after the cameras stopped rolling.
While frogs are eaten in various Asian cuisines, often as a cooked dish, stuffing a living one into a milk tea-style cup and drinking around it has been widely condemned as a step too far, even by those used to unusual street food.
The clip continues to rack up millions of views, proving once again that in the attention economy, nothing draws eyes quite like something truly stomach-turning.
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