When all the sun-worshipers die from skin cancer, who will be left? These guys.

I love that this exists. Behold, the face-kini! And also the full-body bathing costume.

Apparently, as NPR and this French newspaper and this Taiwanese newspaper (and many other news outlets) report, people love going to the beach in China, but they don't love being exposed to the sun. Solution? Head to toe bathing costumes that include what are apparently called "face-kinis," or full-face swim caps. Personally, I think these things are BRILLIANT, if grotesque.  If I weren't worried about being arrested for creepiness or about scaring away everyone who knows me (and also children), I'd wear one every time I went swimming. Kudos, China.

This random Taiwanese newspaper describes the bathing costume trend as follows:

Men and women wearing full body suits from head to toe are appearing on nearly every beach in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province as the weather gets hotter. The upper part of the swimsuit, which covers the head and only leaves the eyes, nose and mouth exposed, not only adds a hint of mysterious fashion on the beach, but has also brought instant fame to their wearers on the internet.

The face masks were initially designed to protect from sunburn but it turns out they are also quite handy at repelling insects and jellyfish. The amphibious hominids sometimes scare away tourists with their sleek checkered skin, said 61-year-old Miss Cheng.

And according to the delightfully Google-translated French newspaper article (entitled "BOUH! - The face-kini is all the rage on the beaches of China"):

A series of photos taken last week by AFP on the very popular beach in Qingdao in the north-eastern province of Shandong, reflects a persistent feeling old in China, as in many other countries: terror tan.

In Asia, as in other parts of the world, and once in Europe, the tan is not valued. Far from being the gracious testimony of your luxury holiday in Barbados, it remains the historical stigma of the peasantry, and is rarely popular with men of good family.

I can't really blame these Chinese sea-swimmers. The sun is super not good for your skin...I know being in the sun helps your body make vitamin D and all, but it's just a giant ball of cancer in my opinion.

Anyway. If the Chinese hate the sun so much, you might be wondering, why don't they just...swim inside? THIS IS WHY:

There is no damn room. There is, however, a high likelihood of insane amounts of urea and fecal matter in the water. And also 'foreign cheerleaders' (??).

So yeah, I'd take a face-kini on the beach, too.

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Want more info? Check out those links above, or head over to this news article, the title of which Google Translate has hilariously translated as "Cock silk Troupe amazing! The summer pool hot crowded amazing scenes."  Also, the NYT has probably the most well-balanced article about face-kinis that I skimmed this morning.