In 2000 organiseerden the Gao Brothers de eerste hug performance genaamd The Utopia of Hugging, waarbij mensen, die elkaar niet kenden, bijeen kwamen om elkaar 20 minuten lang te omhelzen. Sinds die eerste performance hebben the Gao Brothers nog vele andere hug performances georganiseerd, o.a. in Berlijn, Tokyo, Rome en London. Onder de naam World Hug Day roepen ze op tot het organiseren van nog meer hug performances. Met deze bijeenkomsten willen ze een tegenwicht bieden aan alle conflicten in de wereld:

"There are too many conflicts in this world. The hatred and blood-shedding tensions among humans, among ethnicities, among nations have never ceased. In 2000 we believed that the human civilization should enter a millennium of compromises. So we began to promote the act of hugging among strangers.

At that time we were forbidden to leave China, which left us unable to promote hugging overseas. By proposing the “World Hugging Day” on the internet, we earned corresponding support from various parts of the world. Among the advocates there were non-artists, artists, as well as the organizer of the Venice Biennale, Harald Szeemann."
 

In de video hieronder praat Gao Zhen over World Hug Day:



Bekijk hieronder de performance The Utopia of Hugging die in 2012 in Rome plaats vond: