You enjoy long walks. You spend large amount of your free time exploring the city and its surroundings. Once in a while one of your friends wants to join you in your wanders. You’re ready to go, but she asks you to wait for a moment. She needs to take her umbrella. You look at the sky – perfectly clear. However you look at it, the day appears to be sunny and pleasantly warm. Does she know something you don’t? Quite confused you turn to your friend and say “I don’t think it’s going to rain today”. She looks through the window: “Me neither. But it’s very sunny”.
How one should respond to that comment? You have no idea. You just nod and go outside where your friend opens her umbrella. You think it’s rather unusual behavior. You look around. You haven’t realized that earlier, but apparently it’s not as unusual as you thought. People with umbrellas are everywhere.
In western countries we love exposing ourselves to the Sun. If you’re suntanned you’re beautiful. Hordes of people each summer fry themselves at the beach to be able to show at their workplace that they’ve spend their holidays in active way. We associate suntan with being fit, and being fit – with beauty.
In China canon of beauty is quite opposite. The more ‘white’ your skin is, the more beautiful you are. Women not only desperately avoid the sun, but also try to whiten themselves. Most of the cosmetics (creams, shower gels, soaps etc.) have whitening complex (willing or not, you also end up whitening yourself while living in China). You will never find a bronzer in Chinese shop.
Getting back to umbrellas… You might find it quite peculiar to walk with an umbrella on a sunny day. Wait until July. When the temperature reaches 40oC and you feel burning heat all over your skin, walking with an umbrella suddenly cease to look so silly. Putting Chinese canon of beauty aside, you simply don’t want to turn into red crisp. You give in. As the saying goes ‘When in Rome…’ You take your umbrella and go shopping.
In western countries we love exposing ourselves to the Sun. If you’re suntanned you’re beautiful. Hordes of people each summer fry themselves at the beach to be able to show at their workplace that they’ve spend their holidays in active way. We associate suntan with being fit, and being fit – with beauty.
In China canon of beauty is quite opposite. The more ‘white’ your skin is, the more beautiful you are. Women not only desperately avoid the sun, but also try to whiten themselves. Most of the cosmetics (creams, shower gels, soaps etc.) have whitening complex (willing or not, you also end up whitening yourself while living in China). You will never find a bronzer in Chinese shop.
Getting back to umbrellas… You might find it quite peculiar to walk with an umbrella on a sunny day. Wait until July. When the temperature reaches 40oC and you feel burning heat all over your skin, walking with an umbrella suddenly cease to look so silly. Putting Chinese canon of beauty aside, you simply don’t want to turn into red crisp. You give in. As the saying goes ‘When in Rome…’ You take your umbrella and go shopping.
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