Abstract
This article examines the transition of Beidaihe Beach in China from an elite, private enclave of sea bathers to a commercialized, modern, and leisure resort during 1920s and 1930s. The most famous of Chinese beaches, Beidaihe's modern recasting occurred through heavy magazine, newspaper, and cinematic portrayal of powerful political figures, artistic, and entertainment stars at play. Clad in ever-more scanty bathing suits, such celebrities inspired the Chinese masses to emulate the star's beach clothing and seek moments at Beidaihe's sunny beaches and warm, gentle ocean waters. With growing public patronage, Beidaihe soon sported a full array of hotels, amusement parlors, restaurants, and fashionable stores. For those unable to bath at its beach, powerful modern media provided a constant flow of images and stories about its fashionable world. These cultural changes occurred within the hard fist of international conflict as first European nations and then the Japanese vied with Chinese warlords for control of Beidaihe. The first such historical study of beach culture in China, the article recreates in China the rise of bathing and swimming as leisure sports mixed with sensual fashion of beach culture and the hard, military realities of the era.
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