The so-called Beijing bikini, or bǎngyé, has once again been banned in parts of China, this time in an attempt to ‘improve the city’s image’ and tackle what officials describe as ‘uncivilised behaviour’.
For the uninitiated, the Beijing bikini refers to the summer custom of men rolling up their T-shirts or shirts above the waist, or going shirtless, to keep cool. This practice is widespread during sweltering Chinese summers when temperatures regularly exceed 35 °C.
It’s not uncommon to spot men going about their daily lives, playing cards, walking around town, or enjoying a drink with friends, with their shirts tucked just below their chests and their bellies fully exposed.
According to Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times, bǎngyé – which roughly translates as ‘exposing oneself like a grandfather’ – may have its origins in traditional Chinese medicine. It is said to help circulate warm qi energy around the internal organs when one’s midriff is exposed.
Nevertheless, the trend has sparked repeated complaints, not only from tourists, but also from locals. Both citizens and local governments have expressed their disapproval of the practice. The practice was initially banned during the pandemic as part of a broader campaign to improve public hygiene. However, as life returned to normal, so too did the custom of rolling up one’s shirts. Whether exposing one’s midriff has any real impact on virus transmission remains debatable.
This summer, the municipal government of Jinan, in Shandong Province, has reinstated the ban. The authorities announced their intention to ‘rectify such uncivilised behaviour’, adding that residents had complained about the ‘uncivilised phenomenon’, which damaged the city’s image. This included going shirtless or ‘wanton exposure of body parts’.
The notice also included arguments in public, queue-jumping, littering and ‘uncivilised dog walking’.
The crackdown has not been limited to Jinan. In Tianjin, police have fined shirtless men around 50 yuan (roughly €6.40) for breaking the rules. In Handan, in the neighbouring province of Hebei, the authorities have gone further by launching publicity campaigns aimed at shaming offenders. One short film shows a young woman introducing her boyfriend to her topless father, who is playing cards in a public park. The boyfriend pulls her aside and asks, ’Is that your dad? He’s so uncivilised’. Following a series of similar incidents, the father finally agrees to wear a shirt and hat.
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Despite criticism, the ban has stirred renewed attention online. The Beijing bikini has gone viral again on platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, with netizens divided over whether to defend it as a harmless working-class tradition or to mock it as outdated and unseemly.
‘All Asian men do this when it’s humid,’ wrote one user. Another argued that going shirtless to cool off is ‘better for the environment than using air conditioning’. An American user joked that the Beijing bikini should be added to ‘American culture, STAT’.
And, as we write, the practice is spreading beyond China, fuelled by the heatwaves of global warming. Beijing bikinis have already been spotted in New York, London, and Paris.
