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)
