A Toronto flash mob video chorus featuring popular songs has made Chinese around the world proud.

The video of a flash mob chorus singing Chinese songs last month went viral on Chinese social media during the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to Oct 7.

It took place at Yonge-Dundas Square in honor of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. More than 300 local Chinese Canadians, overseas Chinese students and Chinese tourists participated in the event.

The 13-minute video has more than 76,000 views on by 56.com, one of the largest video-sharing websites in China. A two-minute news clip about the event on news portal ifeng.com has got more than 32,000 hits. It has been more widely shared on Wechat, the mobile text and voice messaging service.

Classic household Chinese songs such as The Moon Represents My Heart, Ode to the Motherland and My Chinese Heart were accompanied by dance, to the delight of thousands of local residents.

The spontaneous performance by the chorus lasted about one hour.

"We hope to take this opportunity of the 65th anniversary of the founding of our motherland to express patriotism of overseas Chinese," said Liu Tong, organizer of the event. "It is also a good way to convey our love for [our] hometown."

Fang Li, the Chinese Consul General in Toronto who attended the event, said that about half of Canada's Chinese live in the city and are active in the community.

"I am so happy that in Toronto we have such a group of people who, although [they] live overseas, yet [they] still have hearts committed to their homeland," said Fang. "What touches me most is that they themselves took the initiative to organize this flash mob chorus."

Fang also encouraged more cultural exchanges between China and Canada.

Zhao Shiyang, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, found the video heartwarming.

"Later I checked it on YouTube and was amazed by the event," Zhao said. "When I saw more Chinese joining the flash mob to sing for our motherland, I was very much touched and again surprised by the powerful strength of Chinese people's reunion in a foreign land. This is why I have never felt loneliness in Canada, although I am here alone for my PhD study and occasionally miss my family."

xiaolixin@chinadaily.com.cn