Wigging It

The steamy summer season is almost upon us, and it always amazes me, an unabashed crome-dome baldy myself, how some Chinese men wear the most ridiculous toupees, especially in the high humidity, 40 degree weather of July and August. Talk about cooked brains! My Chinese teacher at the university in Chongqing where I studied a few years back still tries to cover up his scalp with an obviously uncomfortable wiry black insulator, and would receive nothing but derision (and sympathy, at least from me) from his students. This artificial cranial tormentor needs constant adjustment, sweat pours down from it into his eyes and ears, and you can see he is vain enough to suffer the constant itching in order to look "whole". 
Being bald in China is liberating, and in summer especially, acts as a natural air-conditioner that is positively divine. I joke that there are three types of men who like the close shaven look -- actors (Ge You and Chen Pei Si to name two), prisoners, and triad mafioso types. Funny combination, that is! But for me, it is comfortable, easy to look after, makes me look younger, and my wife Jennifer loves to run her fingers through the stubble. I just have to laugh when I hear questions directed at me like "Mr. Foreigner, you are so handsome, why don't you have any hair?" The downside is that in winter, I have to wear a hat of some sort all day and night. My favourite is a skull cap made by my sister-in-law made out of one of my wife's old gray skirts, but I think I will keep this sissy fact to myself. Ooops!

last modified Jun 13, 2004 at 2:43

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