The Bronze Age

Last weekend we went to Clearwater Beach about an hour away from our house. We had great weather and –considering it was a holiday weekend- it wasn’t too crowded.

We rented our beach umbrella (HK$50 = US$6) for the afternoon and spread out our little bath towels -we have yet to buy big beach towels. We swam and played in the surf. Julie and the girls collected seashells along the beach. I bought a serving of deep-fried fish balls from the beach vendor, but –surprisingly- I couldn’t get anyone in my family to try them. (Rubbery and very fishy tasting. What were you expecting?)

It wasn’t until we’d been at the beach for a while that I realized something was amiss. Mmmmm. Sky. Beach. Swimmers. Sand. Sunbathers . . . . aha, that’s it. All the people lying in the sun, working on their tans were all dudes. Fit, tan dudes of all ages. Sure enough, I looked around. Soaking up the rays, there were ten guys for every woman.

“Hey Julie, you don’t suppose we accidently . . . “

“No. Look at all the families here with their kids.”

“Oh yeah, I guess you’re right. So, what do you think is going on?”

We hypothesized. It could be that Chinese men are simply more vain than Chinese women. Or maybe the women’s beach was just around the bend. Or maybe, because it was a holiday, all the Filipina helpers had the day off and all the Hong Kong women were at home figuring out how to turn their stoves on. Or maybe, Chinese men enjoy a good tan and Chinese women simply prefer not to tan.

The good thing about teaching at an international school is that I’m surrounded by people who have answers to all of my questions. Monday morning, I shared my observation with a couple of the Mandarin teachers in the teachers' lounge.

Sure enough, Chinese women prefer a fair complexion rather than a deep tan. Apparently that’s not true among Chinese men. The deeper the tan, the better.

-Jack

And just because I know that you were wondering: Yes, the Speedo is alive and well in Hong Kong. Thanks for asking.