I first visited Shanghai in the fall of 1997 with my dear friends Janet and Jay, flying there for a long weekend from what was then home in Seoul. Back then, Shanghai was already on the move, dynamic and buzzing. But contact with the outside world was still a curiosity for many of the Shanghainese: some it of course was the language barrier, as requests for Szechwan cuisine (answer: Pizza Hut) or Mongolian hot pot (answer: Hard Rock Café) cause animated hotel staff discussions with unwanted results. But the joys of wandering Shanghai back then was that if you opened your map and looked lost (or just opened your map), chances are you would look up from your guidebook to see anywhere from 5 to 15 curious locals offering to help or even a huge smile. And chances are, they were wearing pajamas.
Everywhere you walked and at any time of day, you would see the Shanghainese walking around in pajamas. No, not the Victoria’s Secret version, nor were they colorful Old Navy night garb: these were often patterned sets worn by your father or grandfather, in cotton or polyester, and if you remember the 1970s, you’d be taken back to that decade because you really hadn’t seen them since then.
But now Shanghai is hosting the 2010 World Expo, a biennial or quadrennial event that few bother to attend these days, but nonetheless, is important to the Chinese. The Chinese are so determined to showcase this event that they are spending about US$58 billion, twice the amount that they threw towards the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Only about 5% of the visitors to the Expo will be foreigners, but that does not seem to matter to the Chinese, who are trying to put on an impeccable show . . . never mind all the construction waste that will remain once the Expo shuts down. But never mind, the Chinese want to show how modern they are,
so out go the pajamas.
When China started opening up to the world in the late 1970s, most Shanghainese lived in crowded quarters, so any chance to leave their homes was welcome. If you were running a quick errand, changing into your clothes was seen as inconvenient. Why bother changing if you just needed a pack of cigarettes or wished to escape with your wife for some street food! But the Chinese, whose leaders are masters at prying into their people’s personal lives, and have already worked overtime to get rid of nonsensical but amusing “Chinglish” signs, are now focused on pajamas. The pajama police are in full force, telling people to go home and change, while A-listers are appearing in public service announcements admonishing the little people that pajamas aren’t cool.
But they are VERY cool . . . and part of the charm of visiting China was seeing locals just being themselves, under signs that would admonish you to “
Take Care of the Fire In The Special Place.” What’s next on the no-no list, I ask: tai-chi in public? Ball room dancing on the sidewalk? Just like Americans love to open a business or restaurant with the French words “petite” or “maison” or indulge in British sophistication with a pub or 2:00 tea . . . let the Chinese experiment and tinker with some Western ways. Finally, as so far as sustainability goes, should we really encourage more people to buy cheap cotton clothes in twelve different colors! A dress code of pajamas and a robe for chilly days, quite frankly, would work for me.
I don’t know when I’ll get to Shanghai again, but I have to say, it’ll be a shame if pajamas are no longer seen in public. That image is burned on my mind, years later!
