PJ's in public

On an average day I see several thousands on the streets, in shops and in my neighborhood. (If you live in a city that only has several thousand people, this may seem hard to believe. Trust me.)

Most of those people are "city" people, and dress the part. Sure, the bicycle repairman, the watermelon vendor and the elderly playing poker at the park downstairs don't spend a lot of time in front of the mirror each morning, but most people dress for success. The young women  are thin, dress to kill and look like fashion models.

Personally, I like wearing high heels if I don't actually have to walk more than 100 steps in them per day, but women here wear them like they were born with them strapped to their feet. Foot binding of other people's feet is no longer allowed, but it is perfectly acceptable to bind your own.

I digress.

In this fashionable city, among the thousands I see, almost every day I see someone walking around in pajamas. It is not terribly common, but it is not terribly unusual either since I see it almost every day.

The PJ's are modest, two-piece, long sleeved shirts with long pajama pants (that MATCH, with teddy bear patterns on them if we are lucky). Some are made from super lightweight material, although the winter versions are padded, and come in bright colors.

People don't wear them to the office or anything like that, but they walk to the veggie market in them, walk their pet in public wearing them and such as that. 

I don't take pictures of people in pajamas, because then they would think that I thought it was weird. Which, of course, I do.

This public PJ wearing doesn't happen all over the Middle Kingdom, as the only place I have noticed it is the province where I now live.

As a "foreigner," I could not get by with doing this without causing a scene, although I'd certainly like to try it some days when Mimi decides she needs to find some grass on which to excuse herself at 5:30 in the morning. 

Closest I can come without causing a kafuffle is to wear a sweatsuit.