Man sells his laughter

Zheng Yu (R), 30, sells his laughs in a Chongqing street on August 3, 2008. [Photo: Chongqing Times/cnhan.com]

Zheng Yu, 30, who sells his laughs in a Chongqing street, shows his hairstyle on August 3, 2008. [Photo: Chongqing Times/cnhan.com]

BEIJING -- A real-life version of the nightclub claque depicted in German writer Heinrich Boll's short story "The Laugher" has been found in a Chinese street, trying to earn a living by laughing.

Zheng Yu, a 30-year-old man in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality, began selling his laughter on Sunday in a local street, Chongqing Times reported.

The self-claimed "the world's number one laughter-selling professional" has 12 types of facial expressions on sale. For one yuan (14 US cents), one can ask him to smile or grin, smirk or sneer. Or you can pay 10 yuan to see him perform all 12 expressions.

The man even sports a hairstyle featuring a smiley face on the back of his head.

"We should laugh more. Laughing makes us healthy," Zheng told onlookers, who crowded around him. Few, however, actually paid to see him laugh.