Smile.jpg (Photo : www.chinadaily.com.cn)
Now trending over the Chinese social media is a new challenge that would turn that frown upside down.
Much like the Ice Bucket Challenge for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, the "Smile Challenge" is created for a greater purpose--that is, to provide support for children with harelip.
Numerous people from all walks of life participated in the Smile Challenge, including actor Li Yapeng, who posted a photo of himself smiling in acceptance of the challenge and invited more of his friends like Yang Kun, Liu Jialing and Chen Jianbin in Sina Weibo to take the challenge.
After the celebrity circles of Liu Jialing and Yang Kun accepted the challenge, more and more actively posted their photos for the Smile Challenge, making it a trending topic over Chinese social media.
As of early Monday, the Smile Challenge became a trending topic in Sina Weibo, garnering over 220 million hits and about 59,000 user comments and shares.
It also became a popular topic in WeChat as people of different ages began flaunting their smiles over the Internet.
Several known personalities also shared the works of the Smile Angel Foundation and challenged their friends to donate for the benefit of children with harelips.
After just a few days, the Beijing-based charitable institution founded by Faye Wong and Li Yapang in 2006 collected over 100,000 yuan ($16,300) from more than 1,500 netizens who participated in the challenge.
Beijing Normal University Psychology Professor Hu Zhifeng lauded the challenge for spreading positivity and warmth over the Internet while helping those in need.
