Screenshot of Guangzhou Daily Weibo post featuring a photo grid of couples attempting the somersault kiss.

Somersault Kiss

2014viral videodead

Published November 9, 2026

Somersault Kiss is a 2014 Chinese stunt trend where couples attempted an acrobatic kiss by flipping a crouched partner backward into the other partner's lap. Guangzhou Daily posted compilation GIFs on Weibo on April 17, 2014, and the hashtag #翻跟头亲亲 passed 440,000 mentions within five days. By April 21, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security was issuing warnings about the cracked tailbones and busted noses piling up from failed attempts.

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Overview

The move starts with one partner in a low crouch, arms locked with the standing partner. A quick backward motion flips the crouched person heels-over-head, and the pair is supposed to finish with the flipped partner seated in the other's lap for a kiss2. Half the appeal was that most attempts went wrong. Weibo compilations mixed clean landings with bloody noses, cracked tailbones and participants collapsing in tangles on the floor1.

Some clips presented the stunt as a sincere romantic gesture, but most shared GIFs were failure reels, often ending with one partner face-planting on tile or losing grip mid-flip4. English-speaking YouTube had circulated similar acrobatics as 'flip kissing' since May 2013, though those clips did not spread widely until the Chinese version hit Weibo5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Weibo
Date
2014

On April 17th, 2014, the Guangzhou Daily Weibo account shared an animated GIF compilation of young Chinese couples attempting the backward-flip kiss2. Within 24 hours, imitators were filming the gag in dorm rooms and apartment hallways across the mainland, and new clips flooded the platform1.

The maneuver had an English-language antecedent: a YouTube uploader had posted 'flip kissing' footage of friends practicing a similar acrobatic smooch in May 20136. That earlier clip stayed niche and only picked up attention once Chinese writers started pointing to it as a precursor during the 2014 Weibo surge5.

How It Spread

The Nanfang, a Guangzhou-based English news blog, wrote up the trend on April 18th and christened it 'Kiss Stir Fry' because no agreed English name existed yet1. The same day, SocialNewsDaily ran a gallery arguing the stunt was funnier when it failed and reposted a batch of the Weibo GIFs for Western readers4. By April 22nd, the hashtag #翻跟头亲亲 (Somersault Kiss) had been used in more than 440,000 Weibo posts7.

Injuries soon turned the stunt into a public-safety story. On April 21st, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a Weibo advisory warning that botched attempts could cause serious back and head injuries, especially when performed on hard floors5. The Wall Street Journal's China Real Time blog covered the warning the next day, reporting that hospital visits linked to the fad had set off the government response3.

Attention faded within weeks. The GIF compilations stayed in rotation on Chinese-language meme accounts through mid-2014, but no second viral push followed, and English coverage petered out after the WSJ write-up3.

Timeline

2013-05

A YouTube uploader posts 'flip kissing' footage of friends practicing a similar acrobatic kiss, the earliest documented English-language version.

2014-04-17

Guangzhou Daily's Weibo account posts a GIF compilation of Chinese couples attempting the backward-flip kiss.

2014-04-18

The Nanfang publishes the first English write-up and dubs the trend 'Kiss Stir Fry'; SocialNewsDaily runs a fails gallery the same day.

2014-04-21

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security issues a Weibo advisory warning about injuries from failed attempts.

2014-04-22

The Wall Street Journal's China Real Time blog reports on the government warning; the hashtag #翻跟头亲亲 has surpassed 440,000 Weibo mentions.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically involves filming a short clip or GIF of two people attempting the flip, with success optional. Many of the most-shared posts were compilations stitching together six or eight attempts in a row, often weighted toward the fails.

Frequently Asked Questions