Fili’s world

“How open will the Chinese be towards the Free Hugs campaign” was the question I  wondered about when Free Hugs arrived in Israel. In Israel it’s somewhat of a small success, as I keep hearing about it from people I know in Tel-Aviv. Most opinions I read argued that this would be difficult to do in China, because of both people and government, but - somehow – I had a feeling that China might be the place where the Free Hugs campaign would really make it. Was I right?

CNN reports on the Free Hugs campaign in China with “Chinese slow to embrace ‘free hugs’ campaign” (underline not in original text) :

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — The Chinese appear not to have warmed to a "free hugs" campaign aimed at cheering up strangers by hugging them on the street, with some huggers even being hauled away by police for questioning, media said on Monday.

The campaign hit the streets of Beijing, Changsha and Xi’an over the weekend, with participants opening their arms to embrace passers-by and brandishing cards saying "free hugs," "care from strangers," "refuse to be apathetic," the Beijing News said.

In the capital, police moved in and took away four huggers briefly for questioning, baffled by their wacky, Western-style activities on a busy downtown shopping street.

In the ancient capital of Xi’an, home to the terra cotta warriors, no more than 20 people, mostly children, had volunteered for the free hugs in two hours.

"Passers-by showed interest and curiosity, stopped and asked, but most of them walked away after hearing the explanation," Xinhua news agency said, quoting a local newspaper.

"Embracing is a foreign tradition. Chinese are not accustomed to this," a man named Li, a Xi’an citizen, was quoted as saying.

The ancient city of Changsha, capital of Hunan province, fared better, a local affairs Web site reported.

"Though some people refused (to be hugged), I hugged 20 people in one minute," one girl was quoted as saying. […]

So, it seems that there are some mixed reports on how well the citizens of China reacted to this strange “western-style” campaign, but the troubling report is on how the police responded to the Free Hugs volunteers. Since the Australian government also made it difficult for the Free Hugs campaign in the beginning, this might only be a short acquaintance procedure for the Chinese government to get the sense of this harmless campaign.

Want some more? Here’s a few more photos of Free Hugs Beijing from one of the members.

-

How about Taiwan? Well, seems as though Taiwan’s been embracing Free Hugs for almost a month now, according to this report :

The Free Hugs campaign that has caught on in recent years in several Western countries has arrived in Taiwan.

Yu Tzu-wei, a 22-year-old student from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, walked around downtown Taipei on Saturday offering free hugs to strangers.

Holding a placard with the words "Free Hugs," Yin approached passengers by and asked them if he could hug them. While most people ignored him or ran off, some accepted his hug and walked away smiling.

Yu said he wants to hug everyone in Taiwan to spread the message of peace and to build a harmonious society. On Saturday, Yu had hugged around only 200 people. At that rate, it will take him 315 years to hug Taiwan’s 23 million people. - Sapa-dpa

Oh, I want one of those Taiwanese Free Hugs.