Pale as a ghost...Lucky!

Talk about two totally different ideas of beauty. I was surprised when I first got to Nanjing when someone came up to me, rubbed my arm, and explained that she wished her skin was as white as mine. I didn't know if I should be offended, are you calling me pale? I then proceeded to ask about why she would like to have white skin? She said that the whiter the skin the prettier.
After learning that, these things started to make more sense:

Whitening lotion, face wash and make-up

Using umbrellas...when its not raining

sun shades for your hands when driving the scooter

Coming from a culture where you actually lay in beds that make you darker, this was a different way of seeing beauty.

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An American Girl in a Chinese World

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