Why are Chinese women getting dressed up a tourist attractions? This is a question I never thought I would have to ask, but ask I now have to. This is because this is not just popular, but is frankly to Covid pandemic levels.
And it’s not just at really pretty places, but quite simply anywhere that has even vague tourist sites. In fact the only place in the country I did not see Chinese women dressing up was in Guangzhou. Although to be fair most of the women I saw, particularly in the second hand market were African.
The women dressing up at tourist attractions phenomena
First noticed by me in Xingping whereby ladies get old fashioned Chinese clothes and then pose by old buildings I had assumed it was just a there thing. Then I went to Yangshuo where it was frankly every fucking where. According to my friends at Ganga almost every shop that was opening was a costume shop.
This very much fits in with the Chinese copycat business strategy, but little was I to realize that it far from stopped here.
That is because when I got to Xian, quite literally a Chinese city of more than 10 million people were STILL getting dressed up and parading around the city.
How does Chinese women getting dressed up work?
Initially I though that they must be renting the costumes, but it appears that they are just cheaply made Chinese imperial stye frocks that girls wear all day. They wear this of course so that they can have hordes upon hordes of photos of them in costume for their social media and the like….
This is accompanied by very over the top makeup and a whitening of the face that modern western ladies would be very angry at without knowing the context.
And the guys? Well they have to simply put up with it. Some do get dressed up, but these are probably 1/10. For the rest they have the hell of earth task of holding bags and taking photo upon photo for what must surely feel like eternity.
Generally speaking when it comes to holidays I am very live and let live, hence my founding of Young Pioneer Tours, but with that being said and as my phones clearly show – this is not cool at all. And I would lobe to say it was at least a bot sexy, but again, not so much so.
I am sure its will go out of favour one day, but if I know anything about China, women dressing up at tourist attractions will be here for a while.