One thing we are learning is that Chinese fear the sun like I have never seen before. I suppose they could be afraid of skin cancer. But from what I hear, it is much more likely that they crave white skin with such intensity that any possibility of exposure to sun rays, resulting in suntan/darker skin, causes them to duck beneath umbrellas, blankets, jackets... anything that can be utilized as a ray shield.
This became abundantly clear at the dolphin show when we looked around 10min before show time and realized all of the best, front and center seats were abandoned. Instead, the audience willingly chose seats much higher up and away from the action because those seats were in the shade. We had originally sat in those sunny seats (which I quite liked), but within 5 minutes the Chinese family we were with quickly ushered us up and out of the sun. I didn't understand why we were moving (they spoke very limited Chinese), until we sat down in our new shady seats and I had the opportunity to look around the stands from above.
Chinese lesson of the day: Don't arrive late to the outdoor show. You will end up stuck in those terrible front and center seats with the best view under the sun!
Notice how the audience follows the shade line of the canopy.
Zoom in on those brave souls who chose seats in the sun and are now frantically ducking for cover.
1 comment:
Ah, yes! I remember my "sunbrella." It was a much better sun shade than umbrella - I didn't sunburn too much in China, but I did get wet everytime it rained since the "brella" part was leaky! How funny to see how they follow the shade line...
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