Yin in GMT+1

Yes, they do, and thanks god, they are almost crazy about shopping.

It might sound odd to People living in Nordic Europe where shops shut punctually at 6pm everyday, and generally stay closed during weekends. I asked my Danish roommate when I firstly arrived in Denmark what do people do on weekends if there is no shopping mall open. His answer came to me with his great curiosity: Weekends are for going out to natures, what do you mean by “no shopping mall”? Well, believe me, young Chinese will soon go mad if they find out they can not go anywhere to buy some stuffs after work or on weekends, not because they are too rich to keep money in their pockets or really in need of buying things. Shopping, I just found out after I left China, turns out to be one of Chinese peoples’ main entertainments in spare time and choices there are always more than needs.

Visiting Pingyao, an ancient Chinese city built in 14^th century surrounded by its ancient city walls during a national photographic festival in Sepember,2007, made me think that the central role of commence in Chinese daily life can be dated back to early ages. When small towns in Europe were built around a church as a center in medieval times, Chinese cities thrive on the prosperity of commerce and a shopping street usually served as a spine of a city where all kinds of civic activities went on.

At a first glance of cities in China, you might find everyone is trying to sell something, in different ways, Shops are literally everywhere, so do advertisements. Shopping malls erected in centers of all sizes of cities as landmarks become meeting points for urban inhabitants, walking streets ranging from different lengths and scales are highlighted as major sightseeing places, not mention the massive markets you will not even be able to find way out easily and countless vendor stands appear outside any park or square. These are not only places people trade, but also social: to meet, pastime, and date.

But, things have not always been like that, at least not so three decades ago. In the late 80s when I was a little kid, I remember following my Dad shopping for groceries with “tickets”(click for photos). In the time of planed economy, tickets are used for basic daily necessities such as rice, flower, oil and meat, and each person were assigned only limited amount which varies according to his/her social class, profession, dependents’ number and so on. My parents were paid with tickets and cashes each month, and the whole family was got really delighted one day my dad were paid with a ticket for a cycle as it is one of the products that you were not able to buy with cash in any shops!

In the early 90s, in the little costal town in which my parents and I were living, there once only were stated owned shops in which according to my memory, attendants were always dressed in a white grown and stayed far behind the counter with poker faces. They were always reluctant to move when you asked for a look at something displaced in the counter, not mention answering your request of anything, because any increase of sales will not make any difference on their salaries which are fixed to certain amount once they were hired and they were assured their position were permanent. Things changed much quicker than these shop attendants could ever imagine. In fact, quicker than any ordinary people could ever realize. On one Saturday morning, my mom brought me to watch an opening of the first supermarket in my town. The whole supermarket, and even the whole street were packed with curious and exciting people with little knowledge of supermarket, “There is no poker faces behind the counters!” “You can choose anything you want and pay at the exits!”

People were celebrating their freedom to consume while being surprised by the emergence of diverse choices of goods. Of course I didn’t realize that my country was undergoing the most important transition in its contemporary history but only quietly listened to my dad exciting stories of his adventures to the south (where the economic reform initially started) as one of the first salesmen in a state owed textile factory. He bought my mom and me gold, dress, silverwares used on planes and all other “exotic” stuffs as I began to dream of the outside world. We also enjoyed walking to a night market not far from our home in the center after dinner when my parents both had time, and I only got to know such kind of night markets appeared all over China since mid-90s were important signs of a prospective market economy.

30 years later than the launch of economic reform, Chinese people's ability and desire of consumption always shocked me while I got really tired of massive shopping mall in which you can spent a whole day, driving to the huge supermarket in the suburban and shopping for a week as once shown in the Hollywood movies, endless advertisements trying to persuade you everywhere even when you are sleeping.

One thing I really appreciated in living in highly developed Western Europe, especially in Amsterdam, is its preservation of small retail shops specified in various aspects (a friend even found a shop only sold tooth brush!) as well as their dignity of keeping shut on Sundays. If Dutch do not have less enthusiasm for shopping than Chinese people, they usually go to street markets or flea markets where individuals’ labor is highly respected, in my eyes.

Are girls really so eager to be a “white skinned” girl? Partially yes. As an old saying “white skin redeems a hundred bad features.” shows, having a light color is traditionally considered as a necessity to be a beauty. As “your skin looks so pale” is actually a big compliments for girls and it is not hard to understand their scare of being tanned.

But some hostility towards the sun is unconsciously built, mainly thanks to the modern consumerism. Commercials, TV soaps, Sales in the department stores, female magazines keep on giving you a friendly hint that, “No one likes ugly black swans! ” and further social structures, such as family, peers, employers etc help girls to define “happiness” as “being loved by others”. So the simplified logic becomes, being white-skinned guarantees you more happiness and love! How wonderful, so just go to the store and buy according to the prescription: There are thousands of products can help you lighten your skin color.

So, a western girl living in China might find herself very limited choices to be beautiful in her understandings. All the daily products she can find in shops from facial foam to foundation power are all made with the “whiten effect”. That is what I thought immediately after I found out my first purchase in Denmark turned out to be a lotion helps to get sun tanned despite I was expecting something opposite. By the time when summer approaches and girls began to dress themselves in bikinis and have sun bath in parks in Amsterdam, I am already too sophisticated to be surprised: in countries with Atlantic climate, it really feels like a blessing when you see the sun shinning.

However, the closeness with the sun can only be enjoyed in North/Western Europe where it never gets seriously too warm. Although the climate of China varies greatly, the majority of its territory has a boiling summer with a temperature over 30 degrees Celsius. I have the reason to believe, if you were there, you will get fed up soon as well:)