Clothes Shopping

I’ve been clothes shopping lately, trying to fill my wardrobe with school-appropriate clothes. Before we left Portland I thought myself to be “about the size of the average Chinese man.” After shopping for clothes I can say this is about half right. I am as tall as the average Chinese man and only a little heavier, but I wear my weight in very different places.

In the States, I usualy wear size M clothes...and as Americans get bigger I am more frequently wearing size S. Well in China I will apparently be wearing size XL...and even that size fits funny. Chinese men have no thighs, butts, chests or shoulders. My new size XL pants are loose through the waist but I have to wear them below my hips, or they’re too tight through the seat and thigh. My new shirts are painted across my back and chest, but boxy across my gut. I guess Chinese men have physiques like soda straws.

On the other hand, I’ve bought two pair of pants and two shirts for about 300 RMB (about US$38). I can forgive a lot of sins in a pair of $10 pants.