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发帖数: 46 | 15 China tries in vain to keep bellies buttoned up
Beijing has been on a manners kick for the last few years, but on the
hottest summer days, there is no stopping men of all ages and shapes from
rolling up their shirts and exposing their tummies.
Reporting from Beijing — In the sweltering heat of summer, when the
refreshing breezes desert the city, Hu Lianqun absent-mindedly reaches for a
solution: He rolls up his shirt to expose his belly, often fanning himself
with the garment to create his own air conditioning.
From the countryside to sophisticated urban centers such as Beijing, men of
all ages, social standing and stomach sizes resort to a public display of
skin, a hot-weather fashion faux pas that's the Chinese equivalent of knee-
high black socks with shorts.
They're known as bang ye, or "exposing grandfathers"(despite their age range
). In the hottest weather, bang ye seem to be everywhere, striding among the
tall buildings in Beijing's business district, playing chess in parks,
holding children's hands at the zoo and negotiating crowded alleyways.
There are precious few washboard abs among the lot. Still, many fail to
notice that they're drawing smirks from fashion-conscious passersby. Most
just don't care.
"I don't know, it just feels cooler," says Hu, perched on a park bench on a
sultry weekday morning, the temperatures already into the 90s, the humidity
soaring. "Look, you just shake your shirt to create a breeze. I don't see
anyone laughing at me."
In the sports attire section of a nearby department store, Qi Tong scoffs at
such reasoning.
"It lowers Beijing's standing as an international city," the 21-year-old
says. "I go without a shirt sometimes at home, but never in public. If my
dad reaches for his shirt when I'm out with him, I threaten to go home. It's
just too embarrassing."
Says a shopper in the men's suits section: "I'd never do it. It's
uncivilized."
In recent years, China has shown a keen awareness of its public image.
Before the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing's Spiritual Civilization Steering
Committee railed against such bad manners as spitting, cursing, cutting in
line, urinating in public, sleeping on park benches and loudly slurping food.
During this summer's World Expo, the mayor of Shanghai has urged residents
to stop running red lights and strolling the streets in pajamas, a popular
summer attire.
But male belly-baring has proved a tough habit to beat. Years ago, men often
did the full Monty with their shirts, taking them off completely, as a way
to beat the heat, prompting fashionistas to put their foot down.
In 2002, one Beijing newspaper even sponsored a campaign to drive home the
point that going shirtless was gauche. Each day, the Beijing Youth Daily ran
candid pictures of shirtless men, often with bellies bulging, in an effort
to shame offenders into compliance.
But as on the catwalks of Paris, style evolves. In Beijing, it soon morphed
into the rolled-up-shirt look. Some go even further to beat the heat,
rolling up their pants legs.
Many defend the practice, insisting that history is also on their side:
During the Cultural Revolution, when good manners were condemned as
bourgeois, it was considered a compliment to be called a dalaocu, or "a
rough old guy."
Chinese men haven't looked to their leaders for guidance on proper
etiquette. Mao Tse-tung often scratched himself in public, and Deng Xiaoping
, a notorious spitter, often kept a spittoon nearby when meeting with world
leaders.
Although many men proclaim the health benefits of exposing their stomachs on
hot days, one Eastern medicine practitioner says he doesn't want to be
blamed for the practice.
"Exposing one's belly has nothing to do with Chinese medicine's theory about
maintaining a person's health," says Yan Zheng, who has been practicing
Chinese medicine for more than 40 years.
"People chose to expose their belly because they feel too hot in summer but
feel embarrassed to take off their shirts completely."
Cai Keqing says he doesn't worry about embarrassment. Taking a break from
his retail sales job, the 24-year-old slouches on a park bench, shirt hiked
up, and smokes a cigarette.
He's heard all the arguments about skin-exposing men. "Right now, I couldn't
care less about my public image," he says. "It's just too hot." |
