Over 5,000 students are doing push-ups; more than 10,000 people eat lamb kebabs at the same time… Sponsor of the Guinness World Records, Sir Hugh Beaver never imagined that 56 years later, such simple activities could apply for a Guinness World Record simply for the coordination of thousands of Chinese people. 

On August 8, 2007, more than 2348 children played Chinese traditional zithers in Huludao City, Liaoning Province. At the end of this 5-minute performance, a new Guinness World record has been set and the city enjoyed the new nickname of "Zither Island".

What was the price of this? Enveloped in the sweltering heat, these kids were baked for over four hours.
 
(Sitting for over four hours at the square, poor kids could not stop yawning.)

Five-year-old Liu Siyu's mother complained: "I drove my daughter all the way from Shenyang City. But when we arrived, I found people crammed together and little place to move around."
 
Hotels were overcrowded and even small inns were full-up. Ms. He said: "my ordered room was dirty and grimy. But such a messy place cost me 240 yuan (US$30) per day."

"The organizers provided nothing for us but a commemorative T-shirt. We had to pay all bills and each participant had to pay a 280 yuan (US$35) recruiting fee," said Mr. Zhang, Head of the Qianhong Chinese Zither School in Dalian.

He remembered that on the night of August 7, students were required to arrange their instruments on the square in advance.

"These zithers were very expensive with each costing over 10,000 yuan (US$1250). However, the organizers told us that even if it rained the next day, we could not leave," he noted.

At 5:30 AM on that day, over 2,000 kids were awaken and forced to practice at 6.30am even though the performance was set to start at 9am. With children as young as four taking part, the sun shone bright and with no shade and little water, the performance became a torture for kids and parents alike. Except for the odd break, participants could not even use the bathroom.

Chinese entry way -- mass theory

Huludao's activity is not rare in China. Merely two days later, Zhoushan City in Zhejiang Province announced that more than 5590 people took part in the Ocean Creatures Costume Campaign and that this had also earned a place in the Guinness World Records.

Statistics of the Guinness World Records Liaison Office China show that from 2002 to 2007, 110 mass activities entered the Records amidst close to 400 yearly applications.

Wu Xiaohong, an official from the Guinness World Records Liaison Office China said: "challenges done by many people are really difficult. Through everyone's efforts, people achieve their goals. We accept these applications."

However, in China many mass activities are usually sponsored by local authorities. The former producer of Guinness TV in China Ni Weixing released they used to receive numerous invitations from local governments around China.

Wang Tianyi, one of the sponsors of the zither Performance in Huludao, is also the Under-Secretary of the city's CPC (Communist Party of China) Committee.

According to Huludao's plan, the government will further organize an event where 2008 zither players will wax musical and 2008 people will partake in Chinese shadow boxing to celebrate the opening of Beijing Olympic Games next year.

Wang Tianyi confessed that local authorities wanted to utilize the Guinness World Records to improve their city's tourism prospects.

In fact, the Guinness records entry recognizes private or voluntary accomplishments. Local authorities should not use public money to tempt people.

Poor kids in mass activities

These mass activities mainly focus on traditional Chinese culture and games. Local authorities become the key sponsors and students naturally turn into the so-called most active and widest participants.
 
In May 2007, a painting Fuwa created by over 500 student from Shenyang in Liaoning Province entered the Guinness World Records.
 
In August 2005, more than 300 students played the piano in Shenyang entered the Guinness World Records.

Song Junhua, deputy director of Sun Yat-sen University's Institute of Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage, urged that traditional custom and culture not be used as tools for pursuing political agendas.

Professor Yu Hai pointed out that it is difficult for powerless students and their parents to decline these mass activities sponsored by their school.

Guinness industry chain

The Guinness World Records Liaison Office China introduced that except asking for "special and convenient service," applicants need not to pay for any fee to the organization. But resources from the Guinness headquarters in London explained that inviting working staff will cost extra payment.

Officer Tang Risong from the Guinness Liaison Office China expressed that through TV series, books and theme parks, the Guinness Company has developed its own market in China.

Professor Gan Chunhui from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics said that breaking world records provides a perfect launching platform for both enterprises and non-governmental organizations.

"The Guinness records many attractive challenges and people show keen interest in them. This creates a great advertisement opportunity," he added.

On the contrary, Professor Liu Ping in Shenyang Normal University worried that under the serious market competition, the Guinness challenges will become more profit-oriented than embodying the true spirit of competition and sportsmanship.

(China.org.cn by Wang Ke August 28, 2007)