To encourage train commuters to read rather than fiddle with their mobile phones while travelling, a flash mob is boarding trains and reading books during a 30-minute journey.
To gain a wider audience, the flash mob post what they do on social media sites in a bid to arrest the decline in reading across China. Wang Chong, one of the organizers, calls what they are doing "Occupy the subway and read books," reported Globaltimes.
The group, made up of 40 people, started boarding trains on Jan. 6. They read books using a WeChat public account. As a result of their activity, more than 200 Chinese have joined the WeChat group, 20 of whom take part in the Sunday morning activity and 50 for the second mob in the evening. The readers come from different professions, but are bookworms of those who want to grow in reading.
Gbtimes reported that a similar flash mob staged reading campaign on subway line 2 in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi province.
Wang shared that he observed many commuters use their time on their way to work or home to entertain themselves using their gadgets by watching TV shows or browsing gossip news. He pointed out that most western commuters read, instead of check their phones while inside the train or bus.
And when they reach home, entertainment shows on TV also take away any remaining free time, using up hours which could have been spent reading books, Wang observed.
In 2015, adult Chinese read an average of 4.56 books, down from 6.74 books in 2011, according to the 12th reading report released by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publicity in April 2015. In contrast, Japanese read an average of 40 books yearly, French 20 books and South Koreans 11 books, said the report by Goldsea Asian American Daily.
Reading, though, would be difficult if the trains are too full of commuters.