1. Chinese people are dying to keep themselves white because being white symbolizes being rich (meaning
you're not working in a field where you can get tanned easily), so carrying an umbrella ensures more parts of their body can get protected from the sun. But sunglasses? Only work for the eyes, not enough. Suncream? Not secure enough because your body is still exposed under the sun.
2. They can show off their wealth by carrying an umbrella from a luxury brand with those classic iconic pattern and big brand logo printed on it, so that they can easily catch the attention in a crowd with their extravagant umbrella.
3. To Chinese people living in the south, there're lots of rains during the summer, so carrying an umbrella not only help them block the sun but also create convenience for them when the rain comes.
4. They have a strong sense of family and sharing. If the umbrella is big enough, they can share the umbrella with their spouse or children to protect all of them from the sun. But you cannot share a pair of sunglasses with others. So an umbrella is more economical.
(Image source: http://crackingtheegg.wordpress.com)
4 comments:
yea, Chinese like looking as pale as possible so their skin is flawless and look white-collar or "born with gold keys"....
btw, they place their sunglasses on their heads instead of weraring them, and use the umbrella to protect themselves from sunlight!
http://feveragnes.blogspot.com/
Yes Agnes, they need "double insurance".
i think hong kong people like to use umbrellas instead of sunnies because
1. they dont want freckles / those aging spots. asians tend to get them more. especially once they reach 30s/40s. this is a fact according to my mom my aunite and whoever i know.
2. in asian culture being white is pretty (not really to do with social status anymore because hello is 2011) just like how in western culture some think being tanned is pretty.
3. when yellow skin get tanned, they might (depending on your tone) appear even more yellow, which will make them look dull. like how some whites dont want have pale skin because they think they look pale and ill and ghostly.
4. because some asian women (especially the older ones) are not used to/cant be bothered to use products. and obviously, opening an umbrella only takes like 5 seconds and applying sunscreen on your face+upper body takes 5 minutes. in a practical sense, using an umbrella is actually better haha. but its not appealing obviously.
and if you look around, most umbrellas are not really from high brands anyway.
Thanks for your comment and insights, I really appreciate it. I like learning new stuff.
For preventing freckles by blocking sunlight I don't really know but I'm sure that being white means being pretty nowadays.
But yes, a lot of foreign friends of mine said that they prefer tanned skin because it looks more healthy than pale white skin.
And it'a also true that taking an umbrella is in fact much easier than sunscreen in the first place, but I think that as you carry the umbrella for a while, you will see how the 5-minutes time you invested in putting sunscreen pays off - your hands are free and no need to worry about the umbrella.
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