The facial swimwear mask, first born in 2004, has become widely popular in a culture where females value pale skin as delicate and feminine. Zhang Shifan, a former accountant from Qingdao City in China's eastern Shandong province and the product's inventor, came up with the idea based on customers' requests for a full-body swim mask that would protect them from the sun and jellyfish.
Zhang says despite the product's remarkable success, it also scared small children and other visitors at the beach. To fix the problem, Zhang thought of incorporating the widely popular face paintings from traditional Pekin Opera for the product's latest and fifth version.
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