Grass Mud Horse - Habitat

Habitat

Because the Grass Mud Horse is said to be the dominant species which lives within the Mahler Gobi Desert, the region is also called the "Grass Mud Horse Gobi Desert" (草泥马戈壁, Cǎonímǎ Gēbì, which is close in pronunciation to 肏你妈个屄, cào nǐ mā ge bī, meaning "fuck your mother's cunt"). The animal is characterised as "lively, intelligent and tenacious". However, their existence is said to be threatened by "river crabs" which are invading their habitat.

The river crab (河蟹, héxiè) symbolises official censorship. Its pronunciation resembles the word for "harmony" (和谐, héxié), in reference to the "harmonious society" which the Chinese leadership professes to aspire to, and which Chinese internet censors use to justify internet censorship. The term "crab" itself is rural slang, meaning "a bully who uses power through force", and the "river crab" has become a symbol of crude censorship backed with the threat of force. The river crab is often depicted wearing three wristwatches, since 带三个表 (dài sān ge biǎo, "wears three watches") sounds similar to 三个代表 (Sāngè Dàibiǎo), the ideology of the "Three Represents", an interpretation of communism promoted by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.