Beijing bikini

noun

A rolled-up T-shirt that bares the wearer's midriff, a means of cooling down in the sweltering heat of China's urban areas.

Meanings

nounBeijing bikini (plural Beijing bikinis)

plural Beijing bikinis

  1. humorousslangA rolled-up T-shirt that bares the wearer's midriff, a means of cooling down in the sweltering heat of China's urban areas.

    A man near Beijing’s Forbidden City this month rolled up his shirt, a way to keep cool known as the Beijing bikini.

    2016 September 1, Andrew Jacobs, “How Some Chinese Men Meet Summer’s Swelter: With Midriff Bare and Bulging”, in The New York Times
    1 more example

    China is no stranger to this garment as its steamy climate has created an idiosyncratic offshoot, known as Beijing bikini, where older men roll their tops up and expose their midriff in a bid to keep cool.

    2019 July 5, Alan Weedon, “'Beijing bikini' ban leaves sweltering Chinese hot under the collar”, in ABC News
Cite this entry
APA

Beijing bikini. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Beijing%20bikini

MLA

“Beijing bikini.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Beijing%20bikini. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Beijing bikini,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Beijing%20bikini.

Source: Beijing bikini on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.