Chinese women wear ski-masks at the beach to prevent them from getting “dark”

Beach Essentials in China: Flip-Flops, a Towel and a Ski Mask – NYT, August 3, 2012
… “I’m afraid of getting dark,” said the mask-wearer, Yao Wenhua, 58, upon emerging from the seaweed-choked waters of this seaside city in China’s eastern Shandong Province. Eager to show why she sacrificed fashion for function, Ms. Yao, a retired bus driver, peeled the nylon over her forehead to reveal a pale, unwrinkled face.
“A woman should always have fair skin,” she said proudly. “Otherwise people will think you’re a peasant…”