Taiwan student seeks to kiss 100 men in Paris

Sep 13, 2009, 5:56 GMT

   Taipei - A Taiwan woman studying music in Paris has created a sensation in Taiwan after she launched a project to kiss 100 men in the City of Lights, press reports said Sunday.

   Yang Ya-ching, 27, came upon the idea of kissing 100 strangers three years ago, but did not get the courage until this summer vacation, the Liberty Times and Apple Daily reported.

   Yang thought that two years' of studies could bring her a degree, but she wanted to do something which could give her a lasting memory of Paris.

   So during this summer vacation, she kicked off the Kiss 100 Men in Paris Project, hitting the road with a photographer to record the kisses, the two dailies reported.

   On July 13, she succeeded in soliciting a kiss from the first man, a worker installing an outdoor advertisement board. After hearing her explanation, the man granted her wish, and the kiss was like 'an autumn leaf falling into my pocket by accident,' she wrote in her blog.

   Since then, Yang has kissed 54 men across Paris, including a street sweeper, a model and a foreign tourist.

   Kiss number 3 with a French man who taught French in Africa. He liked Yang and invited her to visit him in Africa.

   The man who gave her kiss number 48 bit Yang's lip. 'It was an interesting experience,' she wrote.

   Yang plans to write a book on her kissing project which will contain photos of her 100 smooches.

   By Sunday, 1.1 million people from around the world had visited her blog, and many left messages.

   Some praised her courage and envied her, while others criticized her, calling her a slut and saying her project was just an excuse to kiss handsome young men.

   Other comments: 'You could catch AIDS!,' 'Why don't you return to Taiwan and kiss Taiwan men?,' 'Kiss a stranger and then Goodbye. I don't see why it is worth writing a book!'

   One woman wrote that she had fallen in love by seeing Yang's photos. 'Even a Paris street sweeper is so handsome. I want to go to Paris too.'

    Yang is still looking for a book publisher.