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:)