A French ban on the burkini -- a swimsuit that covers the whole body except for the face, hands and feet -- has prompted fierce debate, but women in one part of China are wondering what all the fuss is about.
上月，法國海灘禁止女性穿“布基尼”的消息引發了激烈爭論。所謂“布基尼”，就是只露出臉和手腳的全身包裹式泳衣。而中國某地的女性卻對此禁令全然不解。

The "facekini" has been popular attire on beaches in eastern China for several years, especially in the city of Qingdao, a seaside city of 9 million.
海灘服飾“臉基尼”已盛行中國東部地區多年，尤其是在擁有900萬人口的海濱城市青島。

The skin-tight elasticated fabric masks cover a swimmer's entire head and neck. Holes are cut for eyes, nostrils, mouth and, in some cases, pony tails. Most facekinis cover up the rest of the torso as well.
這種面罩能包住游泳者整個頭部和脖頸，布料緊貼肌膚且有彈力。可以露出眼睛、鼻孔和嘴巴，有時甚至為馬尾辮預留了開口。連體“臉基尼”也會裹住身體其他部分。

"I've been using a facekini for nearly ten years," says Wang Huimei, 58, a Qingdao local who goes to the beach almost everyday in summer.
58歲的青島居民王慧梅（音）說：“我穿‘臉基尼’有近十年了。”夏天時，她幾乎每天都去海灘。

"It's way better than sunscreen lotion that wears off whenever I get inside the water. Plus, the water in this area tends to be cold, it's comfortable to wear and it keeps me warm."
“比起遇水就會化開的防曬霜，‘臉基尼’防曬效果好多了。我們這兒的水也挺涼，穿著它舒服又保暖。”

Zhang Shifan says she's the inventor of the facekini and has sold them on Taobao since 2007. She also has a brick-and-mortar store.
張式范女士稱自己是“臉基尼”的發明者。自2007年起，她就在淘寶網銷售“臉基尼”。她還擁有一家實體店。

The garment was originally designed to protect people from jelly fish bites.
起初，這種泳衣是為了防止海蜇的蟄傷。

"Suntan protection was a secondary feature but now it's the major appeal to my customers," she adds.
張式范補充道：“防曬本是它的第二個特性，但現在成了顧客購買的主因。”

New designs
新款設計

Zhang says she's sold more than 20,000 facekinis this summer. She released an arresting series of new designs in July that draw inspiration from traditional Peking opera and wild animals.
張女士表示，今年夏天她已售出20000多件“臉基尼”。7月，她發布了一系列奪人眼球的新款設計，其靈感來自傳統京劇和野生動物。

But while burkini makers have seen a spike in sales as a result of the attempt by some French politicians to prohibit religious attire on public beaches, Zhang says she hasn't had much success selling outside China.
由于一些法國政治家試圖禁止人們在公共海灘穿宗教服裝，“布基尼”銷量猛漲。但張女士說，“臉基尼”在本土以外的銷售并不怎么成功。

"We've tried promoting our products overseas after the pictures of our products went viral, but it didn't turn out well. We've only had small orders from Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the past few years."
“產品的圖片走紅以后，我們試著對外推廣，但效果不佳。過去幾年，只有來自澳大利亞、中國香港和臺灣的少量訂單。”

Buyers tend to be middle aged women like Wang, who adhere to traditional standards of beauty that value paler skin.
購買者往往是王女士那樣的中年女性，她們推崇“以白為美”的傳統審美標準。

The garments have sparked some debate in China, with the pictures of the latest designs widely shared on social media this week. Some Internet users found the designs amusing and creative; others found them shocking.
本周，“臉基尼”最新款式的圖片在社交媒體廣泛傳播，也在中國引發了一些爭論。有網民表示這些設計很有趣，創意十足；也有人覺得天雷滾滾。

"Ask French police to arrest them!" one user of Weibo commented on the photos.
一位用戶在微博上發表對圖片的評論：“快叫法國警察把穿的人帶走！”

Wang hadn't heard about France's efforts to ban Muslim women from covering up their bodies on beaches.
王女士此前并未聽說法國禁止穆斯林女性在海灘穿全身包裹式泳衣。

"I can't really make sense of it," she said. "I thought it's the bikinis that could be banned."
她說：“我真是不能理解這種禁令。我以為比基尼才可能被禁呢。”

英文來源：CNN
翻譯：實習生徐曉彤
編審：yaning