Nation takes to latest trend lying down

Participants are quick to plunge into the Falling Stars Challenge

A firefighter equipped with extinguisher, water gun and breathing apparatus lay on the ground on his stomach in front of a fire engine.

Photos of the officer from the Fire Corps in Jiangxi province have been viewed more than 18 million times.

He was taking part in the Falling Stars Challenge, which involves participants posting photos of themselves lying face down on the ground with a variety of possessions scattered around them, including luxury items and work tools.

Photos taken by the firefighters for the challenge have also included those of a technician with repair equipment, and a communications officer with cameras, satellite phones and a drone.

The Falling Stars Challenge, which translates as "flaunting one's wealth challenge" in Chinese, has gone viral on social networks.

More than 1.08 million Chinese joined the hashtag for the challenge on Sina Weibo, which has been viewed 2.22 billion times.

The meme (an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture) originated in Russia on Instagram. Some photos posted overseas even show people purporting to have fallen out of their private jets or cars.

Li Deliang, who updates the Jiangxi Fire Corps' micro blog and WeChat account to raise awareness of fire safety and prevention, said, "The public is always interested in this equipment, which is also firefighters' most valuable sign of wealth to flaunt.

"Netizens think this is a down-to-earth approach to popularize fire prevention, and they like it very much."