Time Traveling Woman from Past Begs in Subway, Has iPhone

by terroir on Friday, July 29, 201180comments

There have been many documented instances of people using public transportation while dressed up in costume or eye-catching clothing. Previously, chinaSMACK has told you aboutthe mummy, Superman, Deer man and cross-dresser, as well as another cross-dressing fashionista riding the Shanghai Metro. Similarly, we’ve brought you the story of the pole-dancing woman on the Nanjing subway.

Cosplayer "Athena"

Recently, there have been a few more of these “subway performance art” occurrences: a young woman cosplaying as “Athena” from the anime “Saint Seiya” was photographed on the Shanghai Metro (seen above), as was a woman who dressed up in the historical outfit of a person from the ancient city of Loulan, once located in western China (seen in a translated comment below). The annual ChinaJoy Expo recently took place this past month, and may have played a part in these women cosplaying on the subway.

The story brought to you now is very similar to the rest of these stories but with some major differences. First, this person wasn’t riding the subway, but rather was begging for money near the subway entrance. Second, she wasn’t just photographed but also filmed talking about why she is dressed this way along with the rest of her story. As such, this may have been more than just “performance art” but instead a focused advertising campaign for online marketing.

From Mop:

After Athena, now a “time traveling woman” has appeared in a Shanghai Metro station begging for “travelling money”

Following “subway Athena“, now a “time travelling woman” has appeared in the Shanghai Metro. Recently, a woman who claims to have been “sent through time” sits lengthwise at the exit to the subway station asking pedestrians for money so she can return to her home town 500 years in the past. What is even more dumbfounding is that this ancient woman even takes out and iPhone 4 to ask for mobile phone numbers from the passing crowd.

Translation of the hand-written (mostly) traditional Chinese sign on the ground:

I am from the Qingyuan village and have unwittingly time traveled here. I have nothing upon me and am begging for traveling expenses to return home, a debt I will repay in the days ahead [future].

The following video was uploaded to Youku received almost 2.5 million hits and almost 2 thousand comments within four days of being uploaded. At time of translation, the number of downvotes outnumber upvotes nearly 8,500 to 2,800: