Overheard on the flight back to Shanghai this evening:a discussion concerning whether Beijingese women are more beautiful than Shanghainese women. Both the individuals concerned agreed that the Beijingese are, in fact, prettier. Now, you may be wondering why this wholly subjective issue should have the slightest significance to anyone – and you’d be right to wonder. But before you accuse me of some kind of mindless sexism, I must tell you that the people who were holding the conversation were , in fact, both women! (Does that make the topic more significant? I’ve no idea.) So, seeing how we’ve come this far, let’s hear from you and see if we can draw conclusions that might actually yield something of significance on this pressing issue.
Which city, to your mind, boasts the greater degree of female pulchritude? Why don’t we compare opinions to see if our male friends see things differently from our female friends. And, what the hell, while we’re at it, why not give us your thoughts on the men! Why should we stand in judgement of the women without the same treatment for the men? All comparisons of this sort are crude comparisons, but let’s discriminate equitably. (Actually, I’m not sure if this search for significance has been fruitful, but at least we may get a good argument out of the discussion.)
Let’s hear from you. Beijing or Shanghai?
Ken Carroll
pretzellogic on 
Andrew Cockerham on 
Dave on
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s clearly Shanghai, Jenny is proof of that.
Please explain this to me, if there is a difference, why? Is it because of money? Do Shanghainese and Beijingese people have different lines of descent? Is there a way to tell them apart?
How does the old song go? “If you want to be happy for the rest of your life/don’t make a pretty woman your wife/so from my personal point of view/get an ugly girl to marry you.”
I’m not in the market for a good argument at the moment, but considering the limited number people I’ve met from only those cities in California, Shanghai would have a slight lead.
Frankly, I would prefer a beautiful woman instead of a cute-pretty Chinese pop singer.
I’ve heard from a lot in Shanhai that Shanghai takes the cake. (Go figure) After spending a week in Beijing, I felt inclined to agree. However,
given that A) the people who proclaimed this about Shanghai were women, and B) that I was only in Beijing for a week, and C) that maybe the fact that Shanghai’smuch hotter more of the year and therefore the women tend to stand out more due to clothing choice? (kind of a long shot), I don’t think I’m in any position to judge.
however…….Shanghai.
Zhengzhou! That’s where my wife is from…
Ken
I like women because they are beautiful, smell good and make me happy to be a man.
As to Shanghai vs Beijing. I think it is almost like asking do you like Scandinavian women or Italian? Spanish or Russian? I think we all see the difference in European people but most of us don’t see or notice the differences in China. It will be interesting to see how many “mixed marriages there are as time goes by in Europe. To me one of the first obivous examples even within a country were those two Princes in UK marrying a flaming Red Head (Celt?) and a tall blonde (Saxon)
It is funny somtimes China likes to promote itself as 5000 years one cutlure, one people and other times (mostly within China) they like to promote the 55 or 80 or whatever I forget the different groups within China.
Until recently (since Chinese didn’t have mobility) I would assume they tended to marry and procreate from within their own village orvillages nearby. I see many of the differences in physical appearance as still very distinct in Chinese woman today. Now with the migration into the big cities more Chinese from all over China can be found in Shanghai and Beijing. I spoke to an incredibly beautiful waitress in Shanghai who was from Kunming. So from a sampling of one, I think Kunming women must be perfect.
Since I have worked for a Japanese company for 25 years, I often hear “We Japanese” which is amusing because there are no Japanese. They are originally from China, Korean or Polyanesian. So I often point out the different features of the women to them as we sit and drink beers. and ask what type of Japanese woman do you like. Most of them are morons so they can’t see the obvious differences.
I was in Tainan (Southern Taiwan) and my salesman mentioned to me “oh she is cute you see more local Taiwanese girls in the South) which is true and there is a difference in local Taiwanese and those that came from Fujian or other places 50 years ago.
So your question can also be phrased to Chinese.(1) Can you see the differences in physical features among Chinese? (2) Now that there is more mobility are you attracted to one from the same area or different area of China. So which of the women in Chinesepod HQ like the guys from Jilin or Heilongjiang ?
As to me I’ll stick with my original answer I like women.
Mike in Jubei
If forced to generalize, Beijing women start off prettier (I’ve always had a thing for tall 北方 girls) but Shanghai women, thanks to a little more developed fashion and makeup sense (and plastic surgery), end up prettier.
I’d be inclined to say Shanghai, but that could easily be chalked up to my prejudices.
In China any major city has such a huge population that there are tons of pretty women in any city. How many pretty women you see each time you go out in any major city is probably largely just a factor of where in the city you go and chance.
What a completely stupid discussion and waste of time. So of course I have to give my opinion too.
Actually it’s a question–
Why are Chinese/Oriental women more attractive to Western men, than Chinese/Oriental men are to Western women? (Or maybe European women do find them attractive. I’ve heard European women prefer a somewhat sleeker, less-hulky body type than the general American male has.) But do American women find Oriental men attractive? (I’m assuming not but would like to hear any different opinions.) Is it because the qualities of the Oriental physique (smallness, delicacy) are considered more “feminine” and hence more endearing in a female than in a male? or is it more psychological– I haven’t lived among Chinese people so I don’t know– but directness and forcefulness do not seem to be hallmarks of the Chinese personality, and those are traits considered “masculine” and hence attractive in American culture. (Type A and all…) Does anyone have any ideas?
CatherineNC
John B’s comment about fashion, makeup and surgery is certainly rings true in the US. Where would you find the prettiest women here? 一定 In Los Angeles/Southern California. There is even a different rating scale for this purpose. A perfect 10 anywhere else is at most a LA 7. The worst part is that most of it is fake
Some may feel this topic is shallow and useless, but as an intern it is my duty to evaluate the appearance of members of the opposite sex. As such, I have complied with this deligation and conducted an official research project while in Beijing for 3 days on this exact issue back in May. As it was quite comprehinsive (involved an itemized tally sheet, a big portion of my time, and even a calculator) I feel I need to chime in on this issue. In the humble oppion of a 25 year old single Canadian male intern… Shanghai beats the #$% out of Beijing hands down, end of story, case closed… period. Beijing supporters can feel free to lay into me now, but let’s just say when someone decides to go to the trouble of switching to Shanghai Jaio Tong University from Beijing University his oppion is probably pretty set.
Impossible topic but I feel strangly compelled to join in
Haven’t visited either but if I was young free and single my simple question would be which are taller?
Experiance has left me with an ideal height of about 5 foot seven-nine inches. Everything then works perfectly (arm round shoulders walking down the beach etc. etc.).
Height may answer Catherines question too. My wife (who is 5foot 8inches) basically would not go out with anyone who wasn’t at least a couple of inches taller (made her feel ungainly). Her friend who is 6ft tall never looked back since she spent some time in Denmark (Scandanavian men being amonst the taller Europeans).
My Sister lived for a time in Japan (she is a 5ft 11inches tall natural red-head). Her best friend there was 6ft 1 inch tall blond Finnish girl. The two of them walking together apparently literally stopped traffic in a few places. Both of them were there with their husbands so not sure if there would have been any longterm interest, but again neither would have been interested in someone who wasn’t at least as tall.
I guess like Japan the dynamics might change though as the diet changes and average height increases??
Just to make this impossible arguement even more impossible does anybody else feel that pretty or beautiful doesn’t always equate to sexy?
@Rian-
Someone had to say it : )
Szechuan Province. I know this wasn’t one of the choices, but it should have been! I like hot food, too!
After that, I would say Beijing and Shanghai in that order, though I think Beijing and Szechuan are a close tie.
I’m with Chris, here (we seem to agree on some things). Beautiful isn’t necessarily sexy, and vice versa. You can find someone incredibly sexy even if they’re not classically beautiful, and a beautiful person isn’t always (perhaps frequently isn’t) sexy. I hve to admit I prefer beautiful over sexy in a woman. But I’m a bit conservative anyway…
Although I don’t have much experience with distinguishing Chinese women (or men) from their place of origin, I can tell some trends between north, central western and southern in terms of looks. Northern tends towards soft, rounded features, while southern tends towards sharper, more defined features. Both can be quite attractive on the right person.
Now I’ve embarrassed myself, so I’ll shut up.