Newspaper urges modesty

Beijing

One of China’s leading dailies has launched a summer campaign to encourage men to keep their shirts on, the Los Angeles Times reported. Potbellies swinging free in the sun are a common sight all over the capital. But the Beijing Youth Daily wants the city to practice covering up so as not to appall the many foreigners who will arrive in 2008 for the Olympics. In an effort to shame people into wearing shirts, the paper runs a daily photo spread of local men caught walking around topless, flabby guts in view. Any man who finds his picture in the paper can claim a free T-shirt that says, “Civilizing Beijing Begins With Me.”