[nmh]

Thsi author is confused.

Dark tans are NOT the rage in China.

[Jorge]

But for a growing number of young Chinese people, dark skin now means having the money to afford foreign holidays or Western-style glamour.

Same trends in western culture.

Women used to wear huge bonnets to stay as white as possible, because it showed they were too high classed to work out in the fields.

Now tans show one is high classed enough to afford vacations in exotic places.

Goes to show. Sometimes lighter skin is in, sometimes darker skin is in..but being RICH is ALWAYS in style.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Only guessing, but the skin bleaching/"whitening" craze among Asians probably is mainly caused by the influx of European standards of beauty, not because of some tradition for paleness (which does hold, but not as much). This would explain the hair lightening (traditionally, black hair was considered prettier), fat removal above the eyes (for "double" eyelids), and nose operations.

Just stick with the skin tone God gave you--this goes for pale people who tan themselves so much they get cancer, too.

[null and void]

The light ones want to be dark.
The dark ones want to be light.
The straight hairs want to be curly.
The curly hairs want to be straight.
Brunettes want to be blond.
Blonds want red hair.
Redheads want to be brunettes.
The ones with small chests want big ones.
The ones with biguns want reductions.

Has anyone ever met a woman who is happy with herself?

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

MC doesn't look all that tanned--or glowing, at least.

[statered]

Can we get some pics of tan chinese girls here? I need to judge for myself.

[sphinx]

Our older daughter was adopted from southern China at 20 months. One of our best pictures of her shortly after arriving in the U.S. has white, white, white skin tone. I guess they didn't get outside much in the orphanage. Since then, she's lived outdoors as much as possible and, by the end of the summer, is about as brown as an acorn. Astonishing difference. People look at the earlier picture and can't believe it's the same kid.

Daughter #2, from northern China, doesn't seem to tan much at all.

[Cacique]

later

[Alberta's Child]

The shelves are loaded with creams and lotions which whiten the skin.

[radiohead]

I find all of these changes in China just fascinating. About 16 years ago I had a summer lodger who was a professor at Beijing Univ.

When he was about to return home, I asked if I could get any American cosmetics for his wife and teenaged daughter. He said no; no one else would be wearing cosmetics and they wouldn't want to stand out.

For years you could pretty much tell the mainland Chinese on campus because they dressed so plainly and poorly. They didn't seem to expect much in the way of creature comforts. The Taiwanese always dressed sharp and seemed to have plenty of everything. Now there doesn't seem to be such a pronounced external difference between them.

[RosieCotton]

I'm so white I glow in the dark.

Ancient Norwegian secret...

[OpusatFR]

My future daughter-in-law is very pale and has a complexion anyone could envy.

She's classically Chinese with the most gorgeous eyes.

She definitely stays out of the sun or wears tons of sunblock.

I don't think it is a matter of remaining pale, but taking care of her skin.