Chinese women will wear prom shoes anywhere - walking on cobblestones, to the grocery store, to the Great Wall of China. They adorn themselves with Hello Kitty and rhinestones, wear teeny tiny shorts to complement their high heels, and love mixing prints and patterns. This isn't news. Personally, I became more interested in the fashion taste of the Chinese men.

While shopping for my motorbike, I debated between the bubblegum pink one and a slightly less feminine blue and white one. Despite the fact that I was shopping with three other men, I had majority support. ET and ZT said go for the pink, although NJ was a little more practical about it. I decided it would be inappropriate to buy any form of pink transportation in the States, so I might as well take this opportunity in China. I already stood out having blond hair, might as well encompass the whole experience with a pink bike. I named it Malibu Barbie's Dream Bike, and it was proof that you can buy happiness.

Later we were discussing the ridiculousness of my purchase and NJ reminded me that it might be harder to sell a pink bike than a blue one. I acknowledged this, and BG pointed out how many Chinese men ride pink bikes. Most adults in China ride bikes when they cannot afford cars, so if a pink bike is what you find available, that's what you ride. It is certainly faster than a traditional manual bicycle. What BG also pointed out was that men riding pink bikes is similar to men and their clothing. The phrase BG used, and I have yet to learn any non-English equivalents for this, is "they just don't give a fuck!" And the best part is, it is absolutely true. There is no rhyme or reason to what Chinese men wear, no patterns to detect whatsoever. Since that discussion, I have vowed to forever model the attitudes of Chinese men and their fashion sense. Wink, wink.