Free hugs will get you arrested

*Katie* · 10-30-2006, 01:26 PM

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.

The Free Hugs campaign started in Australia and gained fame with a music video this year.

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It's kinda wacky....but the thought is nice anyway.

I've been kind of sad lately thinking about all the anger and hurt in the world...all the things people do to intentionally hurt others because of stupid differnces. And here, people are trying (although it is weird to me what they were doing) to do something nice, and they get arrested.

*sighs...and goes back to being sad about the state of the world today*

10-30-2006, 01:26 PM	#1
Katie Just...way too serious. Join Date: May 2005 Location: purgatory Posts: 3,519	Free hugs will get you arrested 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. The Free Hugs campaign started in Australia and gained fame with a music video this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's kinda wacky....but the thought is nice anyway. I've been kind of sad lately thinking about all the anger and hurt in the world...all the things people do to intentionally hurt others because of stupid differnces. And here, people are trying (although it is weird to me what they were doing) to do something nice, and they get arrested. sighs...and goes back to being sad about the state of the world today __________________ THE WORLD IS JUST AWESOME