China
10:42, 23-Jun-2018
Park offers free entry to women weighing over 61.8kg, the Tang Dynasty ideal
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In an example of changing beauty standards, women weighing over 61.8 kg – the ideal weight during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) – were given free entry to a theme park in China this month.
While today's women are told being beautiful means being slim, during the Tang Dynasty, overweight women were considered graceful.
The Tang Paradise park in Xi'an City offered free tickets to women meeting the ancient beauty standard from June 15 to 19. Xi’an is the capital city of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province and was formerly the capital of Tang, when the city was known as Chang’an.
The campaign implied that heavier women were charming and made comparisons to imperial consort Yang Guifei, according to a park authority. Yang Guifei, the beloved concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, was one of China’s “Four Great Beauties.”
A tourist sits on the scale while having her photo taken by friends on June 19. /VCG Photo
A tourist sits on the scale while having her photo taken by friends on June 19. /VCG Photo
The campaign has set off frenzy on Sina Weibo, the Twitter-like social media platform in China, with many users making fun of it.
“Finally someone fat like me has something to enjoy,” bantered @Yerenin.
“I refuse it! Don’t cheat me to gain weight again!” commented @Lisongqiao.
Other Weibo users were relatively cool about the stunt.
“I would rather buy a ticket. We are not in the Tang Dynasty,” said @Yinghuochongyixiaozhi.
“Yang Guifei was not taken as beautiful because she was chubby,” stated @GL_NeilTeijue. “It was her beauty that made people forget about her weight.”
A tourist is shy about making her weight public on June 19. /VCG Photo
A tourist is shy about making her weight public on June 19. /VCG Photo
It is not the first time a park in China has offered discounts to heavier visitors.
In 2014, Bodao Peak scenic spot in central China’s Hubei Province offered free tickets to women weighing over 75kg and men weighing over 85kg.
In 2013, Hengdian World Studios in east China’s Zhejiang Province provided discounts based on visitors’ weight – the heavier they were, the bigger the discount.
Organizers of both the activities claimed that they aimed at encouraging people to keep healthy by losing weight.