Dangerous Incorporated
12-18-2006, 04:27 PM
China Gathers Teams Of 'Smiling Volunteers'
Wanting to put on its best face for foreign guests ahead of the 2010 World Expo, Shanghai is sending teams of "smiling volunteers" onto the streets to teach stony-faced citizens to smile at strangers.
So far, forty university students have signed up as a volunteer to smile at strangers in public places.
"We ask all the members to practise smiling at home", team-leader Xu Xiaohong tells a local paper. "We smile at the mirror to determine whether our smiles are acceptable. We not only smile with our mouths but also with our eyes".
The group carried out their first "smiling task" this past weekend at a theatre, where they grinned at every visitor.
Xu said the smilers would be recruiting more members and teams would be deployed at the World Expo event.
You may recall, a month ago, volunteers offering "free hugs" to people in a busy shopping street in Beijing were arrested by police. Let's hope this goes a little better.
Source: TNV
Wanting to put on its best face for foreign guests ahead of the 2010 World Expo, Shanghai is sending teams of "smiling volunteers" onto the streets to teach stony-faced citizens to smile at strangers.
So far, forty university students have signed up as a volunteer to smile at strangers in public places.
"We ask all the members to practise smiling at home", team-leader Xu Xiaohong tells a local paper. "We smile at the mirror to determine whether our smiles are acceptable. We not only smile with our mouths but also with our eyes".
The group carried out their first "smiling task" this past weekend at a theatre, where they grinned at every visitor.
Xu said the smilers would be recruiting more members and teams would be deployed at the World Expo event.
You may recall, a month ago, volunteers offering "free hugs" to people in a busy shopping street in Beijing were arrested by police. Let's hope this goes a little better.
Source: TNV