China's Face-kini Becomes Unlikely Global Fashion Hit (Photo : Getty Images)
Because many Chinese women are still conservative, the bikini swimsuit they buy for use at the beach or pool are not like the T-back and thongs worn by western women.
The body cover-up includes the face, using a facekini, reported Stuff.co.nz. It was a bizarre beach fashion trend in Qingdao in 2004 that has returned, part of the Asian women culture not to get dark skin associated with poorer people.
The facekini is a summer version of the ski mask which protects people from cold, snow, wind and frostbite. In turn, the facekini, which comes in neon colors, protects them from the sun, jellyfish, algae and other sea objects.
Facekinis was a recent topic of a Quora thread. During the discussion, the preference for fair-skinned women among Chinese was traced to as early as 475 BC. Chinese author M C Wang wrote, “In traditional China, high-class women normally reside in ‘boudoirs’ and don’t receive much sun exposure, and are therefore more fair skinned compared to other women.”
Invented by former accountant Zhang Shifan, about 30,000 facekinis were sold in China in 2015. To avoid scaring children, she introduced new colors to the masks displayed in Zhang’s swimsuit shop and added designs similar to masks used in traditional Peking Opera. The facekinis costs between 15 and 25 yuan.
