Just as I was composing a post on the subject of unusual on-street sartorial choices, I spotted this non-news story. It is entirely true, though the wearing of pyjamas in public is certainly not restricted to the streets of Shanghai (but I can well imagine that this most fashionable of cities is the place where Chinese peoples' eyes are most likely to be offended by this type of thing). I’ve asked locals about this habit and was given the same response that is in the “news” article: Pyjamas are just a type of clothes, so why shouldn’t people wear them outside?
But another factor is that there are many folks around China that do not have bathroom facilities in their own homes. When nature calls, then the public loo is the place to go. People also go out to bath and shower houses. These places can sometimes be rather luxurious, so people might go even if they have their own showers and baths at home. With exteriors looking not entirely unlike a swanky 5-star hotel, these are places to go for hot showers, communal baths, massages, and you can even sleep there overnight (men separated from women, of course). So it’s not too unusual to see people walking down the street in pyjamas and slippers, carrying a little bag containing all their toiletries, as they make their way to and from the bath house.
Unusual though it may be for some non-Chinese people to see this, I, for one, hope that pyjamas on the street are here to stay. If it is not a problem for the Chinese, why should it be a problem for anyone else? After all, they shouldn’t have to change what they wear for fear of looking a bit silly in the eyes of a few foreigners.
But another factor is that there are many folks around China that do not have bathroom facilities in their own homes. When nature calls, then the public loo is the place to go. People also go out to bath and shower houses. These places can sometimes be rather luxurious, so people might go even if they have their own showers and baths at home. With exteriors looking not entirely unlike a swanky 5-star hotel, these are places to go for hot showers, communal baths, massages, and you can even sleep there overnight (men separated from women, of course). So it’s not too unusual to see people walking down the street in pyjamas and slippers, carrying a little bag containing all their toiletries, as they make their way to and from the bath house.
Unusual though it may be for some non-Chinese people to see this, I, for one, hope that pyjamas on the street are here to stay. If it is not a problem for the Chinese, why should it be a problem for anyone else? After all, they shouldn’t have to change what they wear for fear of looking a bit silly in the eyes of a few foreigners.
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