It’s hot. Actually, it’s too hot. Your shirt sticks to your back, your tummy sticks to your shirt. You’ve had something to drink—perhaps a watery Asian lager—and fanned yourself with a folded-up newspaper. You’ve tipped your chair in the direction of the wall-mounted fan. You’ve done literally everything in your power, and still, you’re much too hot.
This is the predicament of many men in Asian cities such as Beijing or Hong Kong, where summer temperatures regularly exceed 90°F (32°C). Until now, there has been an easy solution: the Beijing bikini, where men deftly roll their shirt up to just below their nipples, then tuck it in under the armpits. Cool tum, happy man. Known as bang ye, or “exposing grandfathers,” it is a common solution for certain men at all stages of life—dad bod, grandad bod, great-grandad bod. The most daring among them will roll up their trouser legs to match.
But perhaps not for much longer in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan, population nearly 7 million. Local authorities have announced a ban of the practice, which they decried in a public notice as “uncivilized behavior” that is “seriously affecting the image of the city.” People found breaking the infraction in areas including parks, public squares, buses, scenic spots and business areas—basically everywhere you’d want to roll up your shirt—could face punishment, the Guardian reports.
The full list of uncivilized behaviors stretches to spitting, littering, failing to wait in line politely, and taking off your shoes to air out your feet. Grandfathers have thus been put on notice to stay unexposed—even as summer temperatures climb higher and higher.