CHINA: Tanning salons proliferate in Shanghai - challenging traditional Chinese views on skin tone and setting an expensive new trend for young professionals

Record ID: 607611

  • Title: CHINA: Tanning salons proliferate in Shanghai - challenging traditional Chinese views on skin tone and setting an expensive new trend for young professionals
  • Date: 9th December 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LI RUIDING, CO-OWNER OF MEI HEI TANNING SALON, SAYING: "Any kind of beauty should not be restricted to a singular standard, it should be multi-faceted. It's like this - if there are flowers, there will be leaves. If there is red, there will be green. If there is the sun, there is the moon. If there is the Earth, there is the Universe. There are dualities in anything in life and it will not be singular in nature. So if we say that being fair is beautiful, then being dark can be beautiful too." SALON MANAGER HUANG TONG TAKING PHONE CALL SALON CUSTOMERS HAVING COFFEE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SALON MANAGER, 23-YEAR-OLD HUANG TONG SAYING: "Most of the time, trendy people tend to visit our salon. For example, actors, high-paid professionals or students who have come back from studies abroad like to come here. In general, people who like to be trendy and have a healthy look on their skin come here for tanning." MORE OF CUSTOMERS AT CAFE IN TANNING SALON (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SALON CUSTOMER, 25-YEAR OLD ZHOU QI SAYING: "First of all, I like to have a darker complexion. By making my skin look darker, I think it gives off a healthy feel and makes me look beautiful. This is of course much better than having a fair complexion. But there are two ways to look darker. You can also get a tan at beach, that is also very comfortable. But people who live in the city have a very busy lifestyle, we don't have much time to hit the beach, so doing so here is the best option." (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SALON CUSTOMER, 24-YEAR-OLD ZHANG LINHU SAYING: "First of all, I think tanning is a healthy activity and it is also very trendy. Since you can be healthy and trendy at the same time, why not come here to the salon. So that's why I like to come here to get a tan."
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA5VKZB39O32TNSDMS4H240NPPN
  • Story Text: China's financial capital Shanghai often sees itself not just as the richest city in the land, but also as the trend-setter of the nation.
    Starting from the cosmopolitan city, a recent boom in tanning salons in China is starting to shake deep-rooted traditions about skin tone.
    But look deeper and you will see it is far from cosmetic.
    For centuries, Chinese people have looked down on those with dark complexions, viewing their skin colour as that of peasants labouring in fields under the hot sun or manual workers.
    Men with darker-coloured skin were assumed to be socially inferior, working as farmers and builders from dawn-to-dusk in the open air, as opposed to scholars and government officials cosseted in their offices.
    Those with lighter skin, by contrast, were seen as better educated and wealthier.
    Though tanning salons are a long way from denting the multi-million dollar market in skin whitening creams, having a nice dark skin tone is increasingly seen not as a sign of peasantry but rather as a status symbol.
    At Mei Hei (pron: May Hey) tanning salon in downtown Shanghai, being dark can also be beautiful, so says one of its owners, Li Ruiding (pron: lee ray ding).
    "Any kind of beauty should not be restricted to a singular standard, it should be multi-faceted. It's like this - if there are flowers, there will be leaves. If there is red, there will be green. If there is the sun, there is the moon. If there is the Earth, there is the Universe. There are dualities in anything in life and it will not be singular in nature. So if we say that being fair is beautiful, then being dark can be beautiful too," Li said.
    Li says his tanning salon was the first to open in Shanghai two years ago and now a handful more have sprouted recently.
    The appearance of tanned models on billboards around China and of bronzed actors, such as Hong Kong celebrity Aaron Kwok on television and at the movies, is also having an impact.
    The young and trendy have been the first to pick up on the tanning fashion in China as well as people who have lived abroad and want to show off their new sophistication.
    "Most of the time, trendy people tend to visit our salon. For example, actors, high-paid professionals or students who have come back from studies abroad like to come here. In general, people who like to be trendy and have a healthy look on their skin come here for tanning," said salon manager 23-year-old Huang Tong (pron: hwang tong).
    Mei Hei has a membership of close to 1000 people and includes a cafe in its premises for customers to chill out in after a hot tan.
    Tanning salon owners say 70 percent of their customers are men and women are very much in the minority.
    Chinese women generally opt for the traditionally defined concepts of beauty in China which call for pale skin, untouched by the sun.
    25-year-old Zhou Qi (pron: chou chee) is one that is bucking the trend.
    "First of all, I like to have a darker complexion. By making my skin look darker, I think it gives off a healthy feel and makes me look beautiful. This is of course much better than having a fair complexion. But there are two ways to look darker. You can also get a tan at beach, that is also very comfortable. But people who live in the city have a very busy lifestyle, we don't have much time to hit the beach, so doing so here is the best option," she said.
    For the men, tanning is a way to look trendy and feel healthy.
    "First of all, I think tanning is a healthy activity and it is also very trendy. Since you can be healthy and trendy at the same time, why not come here to the salon. So that's why I like to come here to get a tan," said 24-year-old freelance talent, Zhang Linhu (pron: chang lynn who).
    The service is not for everyone though, being unaffordable for most ordinary Chinese. A one-month course of tanning sessions costs between 700 yuan (88 U.S. dollars) and 2,000 yuan, almost the average monthly wage in Shanghai.
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