China tries in vain to keep bellies buttoned up

[Liberal_in_LA]

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.


When temperatures soar, many Chinese men raise their shirts in an attempt to stay cool. The practice is increasingly considered rude but that hasn't stopped the "bang ye" -- or exposing grandfathers. (John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times / August 20, 2010)

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.

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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.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-bellies-20100821,0,4939438.story?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fafrica+%28L.A.+Times+-+Africa%29

[Hannah Bell]

1. why i hate yuppies.

[xchrom]

4. Yuppies? What yuppies? I thought this had to do

With being hot - as in temperature - and wanting to
Be cooler.

You see this as modern class statement -
Then you think too much about
'yuppies'.

[Hannah Bell]

7. the chinese equivalent of "yuppies" are the folks who are offended by bare bellies.

china's nouveau riche.

[saltpoint]

2. The exposure of bellies notwithstanding, why does he

have PopTarts in his left pants pocket?

At least three or four, from the looks of it...

[proteus_lives]

3. What's a man to to do when he's too sexy for his shirt?

[dkf]

5. Only the men?

[mike r]

6. He needs some of this:

[Boojatta]

8. There's a simple two-step solution.

Step 1: trangendering: these men become women

Step 2: convert the women to Islam

[Boojatta]

9. Kick! How could this thread sink after I posted a perfect solution?

[petronius]

10. "prompting fashionistas to put their foot down" - I can't take this seriously until

I know what kind of shoes those fashionistas were wearing. What if it was an ugly shoe? A bourgeois shoe? A mass-market shoe? A shoe from last year? What possible value could their pronouncements have under those circumstances?