On Sunday afternoon, a small group of young people gathered at the Hongqi Street in city Changchun, northest China's Jilin Province. These young people, in matching clothes, and each holding a guitar, stood in line and began to sing a pop song. And suddenly, they dispersed.
This was the first case of the global renowned "Flash Mob" landing in China. 14 participants staged their event in three downtown areas of the city, puzzling a lot of passers-by in the process, the local City Evening News reported on Monday.
The Chinese versioned "Flash Mob" was initiated this February by Hua Zi, a pub signer who then published a post on an Internet forum, seeking people to join the city's first "Flash Mob". Hua claimed it should be related to music.
14 young boys answered the call. And about six months later, they gathered at a bar to make preparations for their performance.
Yan Hao, a college student, was one of the 14 team members. "I love fresh ideas," said the young man. "And I have been longing to take part in the 'Flash Mob'". After seeing the online post by Hua Zi, Yan Hao subscribed at once.
Unlike Yan, some other members took the activity as a way to let their pressures out. "We don't know each other. Who cares who are you and what you're doing?"
Through making them feel cool themselves, their 2-minute-activity left many passers-by confused. "Are they shooting a movie?" some people asked.
A flash mob (or inexplicable mob) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse.
The first flash mob was organized in New York, the US, in May 2003 by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine. But this first event, like many, was unsuccessful.
The first successful flash mob was assembled in June 3, 2003 at New York's Macy's department store. More than one hundred people converged on the ninth floor rug department of Macy's department store, gathering around one particularly expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that they lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, and that they were shopping for a Love Rug and they made all purchase decisions as a group. You could well imagine how the store's sales assistants were puzzled by these flash mob!
A group of young people got together at a street in Changchun, Jilin province. They stood in line and sang songs together. And then they dispersed suddenly.
(CRI.cn August 7, 2007)
