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No-Face day: Workers in China wear masks as part of relaxation exercise

The office holds monthly events to help workers de-stress

Kashmira Gander
Thursday 16 July 2015 21:56 BST
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Staff wear No-Face masks during working hours at a service company on July 14, 2015 in Handan, Hebei Province of China. As a service company, its staffs must smile to customers everyday. On 'No-Face Day', the staffs wore No-Face masks to reduce pressure a
Staff wear No-Face masks during working hours at a service company on July 14, 2015 in Handan, Hebei Province of China. As a service company, its staffs must smile to customers everyday. On 'No-Face Day', the staffs wore No-Face masks to reduce pressure a (ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

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Anyone who has worked in a public-facing job will know it can sometimes be hard to put on a smile during every shift.

Woffice, a property services company in Handan, northern China is attempting to tackle this problem, by inviting workers to take part in 'No-Face' day.

The occasion sees workers wearing masks to hide their facial expressions and avoid stressful social interactions.

Staff take off No-Face masks to have lunch at a service company on July 14, 2015 in Handan, Hebei Province of China.
Staff take off No-Face masks to have lunch at a service company on July 14, 2015 in Handan, Hebei Province of China. (ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
Staff wear No-Face masks during working hours at a service company on July 14, 2015 in Handan, Hebei Province of China. As a service company, its staffs must smile to customers everyday. On 'No-Face Day', the staffs wore No-Face masks to reduce pressure and relax themselves. No-Face is a silent masked creature who has no facial expressions in Japanese animated fantasy film 'Spirited Away'.
Staff wear No-Face masks during working hours at a service company on July 14, 2015 in Handan, Hebei Province of China. As a service company, its staffs must smile to customers everyday. On 'No-Face Day', the staffs wore No-Face masks to reduce pressure and relax themselves. No-Face is a silent masked creature who has no facial expressions in Japanese animated fantasy film 'Spirited Away'. (ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

'No-Face' day was the latest in the firm's monthly relaxation days designed to help workers de-stress, according the ChinaFotoPress.

Many employees chose to wear No Face masks, a ghostly character from the popular anime film Spirited Away, while others wore V for Vendetta-style Guy Fawkes masks.

Many workers chose masked resembling No-Face from Spirited Away
Many workers chose masked resembling No-Face from Spirited Away (Creative Commons/Morbid Mumbles)

Woffice's relaxation days comes after a UK charity urged the Government to offer mindfulness treatments on the NHS to help the millions of people suffering from stress.

Mindfulness has become a popular practice outside of its Buddhist origins in recent years, and sees people use breathing exercises and meditation to increase their awareness of themselves and others.

A recent YouGov and the Mental Health Foundation showed that 29 per cent of people are stressed; whilst 24 per cent suffer from anxiety and 17 per cent from depression.

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