Too much skin an Expo faux pas
- Source: Global Times
- [10:27 May 27 2010]
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By Chen Xiaoru
Visitors clad in skimpy or inappropriate clothing inside the Expo Park may be disciplined by way of being asked to change their outfit as organizers work to prevent people from sporting a fashion deemed unacceptable for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
With temperature highs of 30 C being reached in the city this week, organizers are asking visitors to keep in mind that their dress reflects the image of the six-month show that serves the international community as a window to China.
"We are reminding visitors not to expose bare chests, or to wear clothes that are too revealing when touring around the park," Xu Bo, an official with Commissioner General Office for the Shanghai World Expo Bureau, was Wednesday quoted by the Oriental Morning Post.
Xu added that bikinis are appropriate at the beach or by the poolside, but not at a function of this nature, which welcomes visitors from around the world.
Volunteers said Wednesday that they have been versed on how to handle visitors who show up to the park donning the wrong kind of fashion.
"We will to first persuade visitors from taking off their shirt, or ask them to cover up if they are wearing too little," Tao Rong, a volunteer inside the park, told the Global Times Wednesday. "But if visitors refuse to listen to us, he or she will be taken to a service counter, accompanied by staff."
The dress code rules are also being applied to those seen baring politically sensitive logos or slogans.
At least one visitor who preferred to remain anonymous told the Global Times Wednesday that he was escorted to the desk and asked to change into a plain black T-shirt provided by organizers. It was thought that the numbers "7-5" on his top referred to the July 5 riots in Xinjiang that killed nearly 200 people last year.
But according to Tao, who has been patrolling the park with other volunteers in search of visitors dressed inappropriately, the number of such cases have been few and far between.
As the city braces for as many as 24 high temperature days this summer, meaning that the highest temperature could surpass 35 C, some visitors under the sun in the park Wednesday were minding their outfits.
"It's better to wear a sleeveless shirt than nothing at all when it's really hot outside because it helps prevent getting burnt all over," a visitor surnamed Zhou from Gansu Province told the Global Times.
"It can actually feel cooler with a breeze running through your T-shirt, plus, it's important for visitors to pay attention to how they present themselves during such a big international occasion," he added.
Meanwhile, many pavilions, including the France, UK and Japan ones, said they have no plans to regulate what visitors are wearing.
The calls for appropriate dress from visitors follows a campaign launched during the Beijing Olympics, when authorities asked residents not to follow the summertime Bang Ye trend, which sees northern Chinese men walking around bare-chested.
