Chinese daredevils in a jam: Penalty for bare backs

Ye Jun, China Daily, Asia News Network, Beijing

When Rivaldo yanked off his shirt and twirled it in triumph after scoring for Brazil in the World Cup Finals, he could surely scarcely believe the bother some of his Chinese admirers would get into for baring their torsos.

A Beijinger in his 30s surnamed Zhao was recently shocked to be told by a friend that a picture of him was being carried, in a major Beijing newspaper as part of a shame campaign.

His crime? To be spotted topless in public.

The picture showed him keeping cool on the bank of Shichahai near his home. Although his face was covered by a special process, he was easily recognized by his friend.

Zhao has gone topless at the height of summer since he was a kid. What he didn't know was that two newspapers had thrown their weight behind a local government bid to smarten up the city's image.

Was he really doing any harm? Opinion is divided.

"More than a third of the men around Shichahai will be topless during the day," argued Zhao in his defense. "We just want to cool off."

Zhao admitted to feeling a little ashamed of himself because the story accompanying the picture accused topless men of damaging the good image of the Chinese capital.

His transgression was compared to spitting and littering in public.

In an effort to eliminate such image-harming acts in the run up to the 2008 Olympics, the newspapers have been encouraging people to take photos of topless men and then sending T-shirts to those concerned.

Men going topless, or bangye, is for many people part and parcel of life in Beijing. You'll see them in hutong, by the side of lakes, manning small shops and even in some restaurants.

According to Wang Juan, an expert in folk custom at Peking University, topless men were recorded in paintings and written materials dating back to both the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368- 1911).

They existed in three situations.

The first were farmers or craftsmen at work. They might simply be striving to keep cool or be concerned about damaging their clothes.

The second are seen in representations of young men taking physical exercise during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Playgrounds were set up for young qiren, or young Manchu men, to practice martial arts or other physical exercise.

In this case, being topless was not only an act of convenience but also a way to showing off one's muscles -- perhaps echoing to the modern-day pride of top footballers. This later spread to other people in Beijing.

The third scenario was simply when the weather was very hot. People of lower social status living in Beijing's hutong didn't have much to wear and cared little about being topless on scorching summer days.

Zhao Shu, a folk custom expert at the Beijing Literature and History Museum, argues that topless men are definitely not one of Beijing's age-old traditions.

He argues that residents of a political and cultural capital for several hundred years -- not only high society but also common people -- have taken a pride in clothing and etiquette.

He said that if a rickshaw boy didn't wear a shirt at work, he might struggle to get any customers.

Whether he's right or not, nowadays it is very easy for people to find topless Beijingers during the summer, not only within the residential areas but sometimes also in the street and on buses.

An Jie, a driver of the 386 bus, (one without air conditioning), carries topless passengers once in a while.

In most cases they are young men in their 20s or 30s who feel so hot that they take off their shirts.

An Jie feels embarrassed for other passengers because the bus can be quite crowded.

She will sometimes try to persuade such men to cover up. Some take the advice, but others ignore or even argue back.

"They sometimes ask 'what has it to do with you'," said An. "I find that very difficult to answer."

She acknowledges that being topless might be considered personal choice.

"It might be against morals, but certainly not against the law," said Tuo Mingzhong, a lawyer at the Beijing Dacheng Law Firm.

One regulation might be deemed to apply to topless guys on the bus -- the Capital Citizens' Agreement on Civic Virtues.

Formulated by the Civilization Office, part of Beijing local government, the fourth and ninth articles say people should behave in a civilized manner and help maintain the beautiful appearance of the city.

"But the Agreement is a propositional regulation," stressed Tuo. "It is neither compulsory, nor associated with any punitive measures to those who go against it.

"Basically, topless men in public occasions can only be regulated by the force of morality."

Wang Juan thinks that the rights and wrongs of going topless depend on the occasion.

"On some special occasions, such as on the beach, in a swimming pool or in a playground, it is only natural for men to be topless," she said. "But it would be rather awkward to have them in department stores or on buses."

She thinks that those who want to go topless on special occasions should be respected for their own choice and personal habits. But in public, they should consider other people's feelings.

Gao Bingzhong, a professor of sociology at Peking University, perceives a class difference over the matter.

"Those who want to get rid of the topless phenomenon look at the matter from an intellectual's point of view. They are usually better-educated and well paid people who work in an air- conditioned environment," he suggested.

"The fact they want laborers to be like them shows their ignorance about and inconsideration for the working class."

The fact that topless men receive so much media coverage shows that Beijing is trying to keep itself in step with other major world cities.

The advance of personal values should be in pace with the general development of society, he argues.

It is hard to imagine someone going topless in a cool five- star hotel lobby or somewhere all other people are well-dressed.

But in a hot old hutong, it is nothing particular.

The power of environment dictates that for a long time to come, people might well continue to see topless men around Beijing's old hutong.

While suit and tie fits life in skyscrapers, topless men might not disappear so long as the time-honored lifestyle of the hutong exists.

How long that will be, of course, is quite another question.