Light versus dark

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, most Chinese people strolling around Beijing are hiding under an umbrella to avoid the sun. At the same time, it's hard to get an appointment at two of Beijing's tanning salons, where the waiting rooms are packed with hipsters eager to slip into a casket to become a darker hue. Aesthetically and culturally, pale skin is more appealing to Asian people, who see it as purer and a sign of nobility and wealth. However, the recent boom in tanning salons in Beijing is challenging these concepts.

Despite the dangerous effects of skin whitening products and tanning salons, both are thriving in China right now. The obsession for a different color is reaching new levels elsewhere in the world too. A shower gel recently released in India encourages women to lighten their genitals, and a woman in the US faces up to 10 years in prison for allowing her five-year-old daughter into a tanning booth. With summer now here, Beijingers shared their take on skin tone.

In the eye of the beholder

"It makes you glow. When I'm tanned I look better and I feel more outgoing," commented a 31-year-old man outside a tanning salon in the Central Business District (CBD), who identified himself as Liu.

"People tell me that I look refreshed and healthier," said Liu, who has a salon close to his office in the CBD, which he visits every fortnight. "I honestly think the idea that being white is noble is very old-fashioned. It doesn't really matter if you're white or tanned, as long as you feel good and healthy," Liu noted.

Unlike Liu, 20-year-old university student Jia Jie wishes that she had fairer skin. "My boyfriend always tells me, 'Don't forget the umbrella,'" said Jia. "Look at all the famous Chinese celebrities? Whiter people are the most beautiful. We grow up believing in a traditional Chinese concept of beauty. We can be discriminated against or mistaken for a rural worker," she explained.

The student admitted that Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez are beautiful, but also pointed out that they are not Chinese.

"In China, skinny girls with lighter skin and big eyes always get boyfriends with more ease," she explained.

Becoming darker

Whitening treatments have long been available at beauty salons around Beijing. A Japanese-owned salon located close to the west gate of Chaoyang Park offers a wide range of whitening treatments, with prices ranging between 100 yuan ($16) and 400 yuan per session, depending on the body part that you would like to bleach.

However, more and more Chinese people want to look sun-kissed instead of white, in line with a Western trend that makes people feel shy about exposing pale limbs. "In the summertime, we have about 20 clients a day," said Jiang Xinyang, owner of a tanning company in the CBD, which recently opened its second branch in Sanlitun. "In our CBD shop, only 10 percent of the clients are foreigners; the rest are Chinese white-collar workers and are mostly men," explained Jiang, who is a local Beijinger. "These are well-traveled people or they have foreign friends. They're into a new lifestyle and into following foreign trends. For some it is a fashion statement, for others it is associated with healthier looks," said the studio owner, who reckons that at the newly opened branch, the clientele will be 50 percent Chinese within the next two years.

Jiang highlighted that the tanning machines used are state-of-the-art, designed by leading manufacturers from the Netherlands. He also claimed that his studio is the only one in town that offers two collagen anti-aging machines designed to "make you look younger," although he couldn't explain exactly how the technology works and if they reverse the possible aging effects caused by his studio's tanning machines.

While he was dismissive of health concerns, he did nevertheless highlight the price for tanning as a barrier.

Getting a [fake] tan isn't affordable for everyone. While most tanning studios offer membership or package deals and people can buy up to 500 minutes for 2,500 yuan, this price is still more than many people earn in their monthly salary in Beijing.

"It's really a personal choice. It's a new lifestyle that is available for some," noted Jiang.

Dangerous methods and minds

When it comes to choosing whitening products and procedures, the latest recipes and ingredients are generally safer than their predecessors.

However, some specialists warn of side effects. "There are a variety of whitening ingredients. Some are harmful, some are safe," said Na Renhua, a dermatologist at United Family Hospital.

Older generations of whitening ingredients often included harmful elements such as arsenic, lead and mercury, which could accumulate in the body and gradually cause organ failure.

Modern whitening ingredients often include retinol, hydroquinone, azelaic acid, glycolic acid and vitamin C. Most of them are safe in general, though some may cause skin irritation, which may result in post-inflammatory hyper pigmentation. They can also cause allergies, explained the specialist.

Na also warned about the effects of overdoing tanning. "Tanning salons normally use UVA light. Exposure to this light can accelerate skin aging in the form of wrinkles, skin discoloration, skin thinning, broken blood vessels, dry and dull skin, and can increase the risk of getting a skin disease like vitiligo or cancer," said the dermatologist.

In terms of skin cancer, this is still not a common disease among Chinese people. However, there is data confirming the significant rise of skin cancer incidences in China.

Na said this is especially due to recent lifestyle changes, including partaking in more outdoor activities like golf and hiking, alongside negative environmental changes in terms of air pollution and a hole in the ozone, and increased mental stress levels.

More difficult to assess are the effects of beauty trends and beliefs on the minds of young people, who grow up tortured by an unattainable idea of beauty.

"Healthy and natural is the most beautiful," said Na. She quoted an article in the New York Times by Katherin Schulten, entitled "Is 14 a 'Magic Age' for Forming Cultural Tastes?" It argues that mainstream culture and advertising have a strong effect on young people.

"Fourteen is a formative age," Na agreed. "You're in the ninth grade, confronting the tyrannies of sex and adulthood, struggling to figure out what kind of adult you'd like to be, and you turn to the cultural products most important in your day as sources of cool."

The dermatologist went on, "The impact of public opinion on young people regarding beauty and fashion is profound. Consequences [of growing up in a society that defends strict and sometimes dangerous beauty patterns] can be devastating," she said.