How Some Chinese Men Meet Summer's Swelter

Click "GuideinChina" above ↑↑↑ to follow us

---

Summer on the streets of Chinese cities yields a panoply of exotic sights and sounds: old men loudly jousting over mah-jongg tiles, sidewalk barbecues grilling tough-to-identify animal parts, and the unmistakable growl of a clearing throat — that ends with an inevitable.

A man near Beijing’s Forbidden City this month rolled up his shirt, a way to keep cool known as the Beijing bikini.
GILLES SABRIE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

But nothing defines China’s most sweltering season (or bewilders foreigners) more than the curious sartorial habits of grown men who neatly roll up their shirts to reveal bellies, often in glorious plenitude, without the teeniest hint of shame (nor the teeniest hint of a six-pack).

The exposed midriff, visible in shops, restaurants and hospital waiting rooms, often has a companion flourish, with practitioners rolling up their pants legs to just below the knee.

A seafood seller at a Beijing market adopted a look common among Chinese men in hot weather.
GILLES SABRIE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

This, it will be explained upon asking, is a makeshift form of air-conditioning known as the Beijing Bikini. (Others somewhat disparagingly describe the phenomenon as “bang ye,” which roughly translates as “exposing yourself like a grandfather.”)

It is on display anywhere where temperatures sizzle — urban or rural, private space or public sphere, recreational park or commercial shop.

Social convention bars women from engaging in similar displays of flesh.

Men are free to roll up their shirts in China, but women are discouraged by social convention from similar displays of flesh.
GILLES SABRIE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Although adherents, often with cigarette and beer in hand, attest to the Beijing Bikini’s cooling health benefits, they face mounting hostility from educated upstarts or busybody bureaucrats who find the summer parade of bulging tummies uncouth and unbecoming of a great nation.

A construction worker in Beijing made a primitive attempt at outdoor air-conditioning.
GILLES SABRIE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Chinese newspapers wage periodic propaganda campaigns against the look, but it endures and is increasingly visible abroad, proudly displayed by Chinese tourists outside New York City art museums, Buckingham Palace in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Source:The New York Times

What is your opinion? Let us know! Comment below(click "写留言" at the bottom of the page)! And don't forget to share this article with friends by pressing "..." in the top right corner.

好好学习，天天向上

Editor's Pick:

Follow us to receive daily updates with info on China and our newest positions!

---