Saving face--from sunburn; Qingdao's face-kini fashion accessory (FRANCISCO LITTLE) 

They rose from the sea like a group of extraterrestrials on a secret mission to invade the planet--or the shores of Shandong Province in east China at least. Fear pervaded the air as the mysterious agents broke into high-pitched laughter. Distinctive female laughter. Wait a minute--if this isn't an invasion, could it be the set of a horror movie or a maritime version of Halloween? Suddenly, the creatures were swarming the beach in dozens, as I beat a hasty retreat to the sanctity of an umbrella-covered icecream stand.

Welcome to just another day on Number 1 Beach Qingdao, the coastal city renowned as the home of the Tsingtao beer brand, China's favorite brew, and the yachting venue for the 2008 Olympics. The city now adds the invention of the face-kini into its repertoire of bragging rights.

What these sartorially challenged items do is ostensibly cover the entire head and neck of the wearer like a ski mask, leaving holes only for the eyes, nose and mouth. It's like the balaclava masks used in bank robbery movies or by some wrestlers in the ring--but designed to protect the head and face from direct sunlight.

The face-kini, as it is known, is made of nylon and comes in a range of bright colors that makes them easy to spot as they float about in the sea. This is one giant leap up from sun-screen. It's a well-known fact that the vast majority of Chinese women favor pale skin as a sign of beauty, not to mention economic and social status. In China, rather than being a symbol of the time spent relaxing on a beach or at an outdoor spa, as in many Western countries, tanned skin is often associated with working long hours in the sun doing hard manual labor and is way down on the list of what is desirable or feminine.

It's that very fact that led the owner of a local swimwear business, Zhang Shifan, to try her hand at the fashion design industry--that, together with the protection it could offer against jelly fish stings and algae. The face-kini inventor and designer told Shanghai Daily that back in 2004, her first roughly stitched designs didn't go down too well with children. To put it simply, the face-kini wearers terrorized young beach visitors. "In the past, I really wanted to do everything I could to avoid scaring people. If I were to make a face-kini, I wouldn't make a black one, a white one, or use any dark colors. That still didn't stop it from scaring people," she said. I can definitely attest to that!

Zhang's designs have gradually evolved and her latest offerings are based on the more child-friendly designs of Peking opera masks--something which Chinese have grown up with and which gives beachgoers no incentive to go rushing to a safe place to cower in terror. Or so we are led to believe--I saw little evidence of such intention.

The face-kini has also gone international after receiving exposure in a swimwear photo-shoot wherein models wore the item for a 2014 edition of biannual magazine CR Fashion Book, a publication founded by Vogue Paris' Editor in Chief Carine Roitfel.

The face-kini is cheap to buy, at around $3, and appears to be favored more by older women. Perhaps younger women feel it gets in the way of the endless number of pouting summer selfie opportunities that venues such as an attractive stretch of beach have to offer. Somehow, posting selfies of yourself encased in a scary face-kini on social media seems to be the perfect way to lose followers by the dozen. And there's more. For those who want a total shut out of the vitamin D that the sun can help stimulate, the face-kini can be worn with a complete rubber bodysuit and gloves--hardcore body protection indeed.

Watching from my lookout post and in icecream heaven, I thought that despite fashion trends being fickle, it seems the face-kini has found a long-term market and is here to stay. It also makes sense in a global climate where the detrimental damage of the sun's ultraviolet rays has pushed skin cancer levels to record highs. Now, if only the masks could be less frightening, a trip to the beach wouldn't feel as if you'd be held up at gun point at any moment.

The author is a South African working in Beijing

Copyedited by Bryan Michael Galvan  

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