Unstoppable Exposure... China's Continued Love for the 'Beijing Bikini'

Walking Around in Public Places with Shirt Rolled Up
Unchanged Despite Crackdowns and Public Service Advertisements

Chinese authorities are struggling with the so-called 'Beijing Bikini,' a style of dress where shirts are lifted above the stomach while walking the streets. Despite being classified as an "uncivilized behavior" and harshly punished in several Chinese cities, the trend shows no signs of diminishing.

An outfit commonly referred to as the 'Beijing Bikini.' [Image source=Getty Images]

At the recently concluded 'Qingdao Global Beer Festival' in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on the 11th, Chinese men dressed in Beijing Bikini attire once again attracted attention. Some locals, unable to bear the heat, were reported to have walked around public places shirtless, leading to several disputes.

Even though some local governments in Shandong Province, Handan, Tianjin, Shenyang, and other areas are imposing fines and conducting intensive crackdowns to eradicate the Beijing Bikini, Chinese people's fondness for it remains strong. In May 2019, a man in Tianjin was fined about 10,000 won for shopping shirtless in a supermarket. Additionally, some regional authorities have launched large-scale public service advertising campaigns urging people not to lift their shirts in public places.

The Beijing Bikini has already become a topic of interest in Western countries. Major foreign media outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post (WP) have reported that every summer, some Chinese pedestrians inevitably lift their shirts up, calling the Beijing Bikini "a main trend of Chinese summers."

In an advertisement video introduced earlier by CNN, a woman is shown witnessing her father sitting shirtless in a park while she is out with her boyfriend. The boyfriend then criticizes the woman, saying, "Is that your father? That's so uncivilized."

However, some local voices express dissatisfaction with the authorities' efforts to crack down on the Beijing Bikini. Chinese netizens have raised their voices, saying, "How are we supposed to cope with such a heatwave?", "We should understand shirtlessness as a Chinese peculiarity," and "Shirtlessness helps reduce electricity waste."