No pajama party at Expo
- Source: Global Times
- [03:30 October 30 2009]
- Comments
Shen, along with 10 community volunteers, wears a red armband at the gate of her community block twice a week and stops people who wear pajamas, the magazine reported.
Shen's community was among a number of them close to the World Expo site to carry out the campaign in response to a call by the Shanghai Women's Association and district committees.
"It (wearing PJs in public) is not something that should be exaggerated at all. Making an issue out of it would only complicate our daily lives even if there is World Expo," an unnamed woman wearing pajamas
on her way back from the store told the magazine, displaying anger and impatience.
The origin of pajama practice remains debatable, with some saying it is a decades-old tradition in self-contained communities in Shanghai.
Duncan Rickelton, 25, a British freelancer who stayed in an old community when he moved to Shanghai earlier this year, said the comfy attire was a frequent sight.
"Nearly every time I went out, I would meet people, both male and female, with pajamas, especially in the evening," Rickelton said. "It's OK and funny. It makes things interesting. It's part of the culture and not impolite. I don't really think it should be banned. That'd be a waste of time and energy."
"If you grow up in an environment where many elderly people do this, then maybe you won't realize it is improper until the media begins criticizing it," said a 27-year-old office worker surnamed Fang, in Shanghai. "The phenomenon is more common in communities and small lanes in old urban areas. They walk with pajamas in areas close to their home."
