Hi everyone! I have a question for you guys. Are you beautiful in China? Chinese beauty standards are very different than western beauty standards. Let’s get started!
1) Pale/White Skin
You guys might have already noticed this, but Chinese people or even Asian people in general love pale skin雪白的皮肤(xuěbáidebáipífū). However, in the western world, people love to go to the beach and get a tan or even go to tanning salons. This fascination with pale skin originates from a long time ago when only the wealthy could afford to stay inside and thus have pale skin. Those with tan skin were usually the farmers who worked outside in the sun all day long.
2) Big eyes with double eyelids
What in the world are double eyelids? Well, in Chinese they are called 双眼皮shuāngyǎnpí(双=double,眼皮=eyelid) . This refers to the crease that shows when someone opens his or her eyes. The majority, although not all, of Chinese people have a monolid (a lid without a fold or crease). Some people even have surgery (Blepharoplasty: blepharon meaning “eyelid” and plassein meaning “to form”). Having this crease gives off the illusion of having bigger eyes and thus is more desirable to Chinese people.
3) Small and prominent nose
Chinese people are usually born with lower nose bridges. They like the look of having a more pronounced nose or having a high nose bridge in general. However, they are also those who say that having a bigger nose because there is a saying that the bigger one’s nose is, the wealthier he or she will be.
4) Slim figure
A nice figure is probably desirable by the majority of women, but Chinese people lean toward a thinner and skinnier figure. They do not really go for the defined muscle kind of figure, but instead a slender and slim figure.
5) Small feet
This is the most horrendous of them all and thankfully, this practice does not exist anymore. It was once thought to be very beautiful for a woman to have small feet(around 3 inches long). To achieve small feet, people would bind young girls’ feet to prevent further growth. This practice of foot binding leads to severe damage to the feet later on in life and resulted in lifelong disabilities.
That’s it! I just want to say that of course not everybody in China thinks this way, but it is an overarching opinion that people have. Although this world is inundated with beauty standards, everyone should be happy with how they look naturally. There is a saying, “The grass is greener on the other side.” People are usually unhappy with whatever they have and always want more. But, although the these beauty standards in China exist, I think that all people are beautiful just the way they are.
Talk to you guys next week!
中国人的审美标准的确和欧美不同。作者能够想到用这个主题，真是太有意思了！
This article is very interesting. I never noticed how pale skin is common with Asian people. Also, the small foot method sound so painful and crazy!!
the article is very interesting. I never noticed that pale skin was common with Asian people. Also, the small foot method was very strange and sounded painful !!
good article. Very accurate as to what the Chinese beauty standards are. Esepcially if they are chinese celebrities.
I found this article very interesting. I love to see how other cultures differ than ours!
Nice article Nicole~ I found it very interesting how much Chinese standards differentiate from American standards and it is very cool that these standards can be found throughout the rest of Asia as well!
果然中国与外国的审美不同！这段信息很有意思，可以让我们充分的理解中国人的审美。
Nice article!! It’s interesting to see two very distinct beauty standards.
I think it is interesting how different asian standards are compared to american standards. for example people in china like pale skin but here in the us tanned skin is preferable it seems