China is currently in the midst of a new headwear craze. It’s like a typical sun visor with a swivel down piece of dark transparent plastic which shades the face from the summer sun’s harsh glare. The protective plastic can serve as an extended visor (up), or sort of a whole-face “sunglass mask” (down). See the pictures below, modeled by yours truly. I’m not entirely sure what to call the new hat-like apparel.
The Chinese just call them 太阳帽, which could be literally translated as “sun hat” and my (normally awesome) good dictionary lists as “sun-helmet.” The thing is, I’ve been in China nearly four years, and I can assure you that this is an entirely new product, so the dictionary term can’t possibly apply in more than a very general way. Anyway, I can’t call these new “sun-helmet” things “sun visors” because that name is already taken by the traditional sun visors without the crazy swivel-down tinted plastic piece. So I’m calling them “solar visors.”
The whole point of this post is that China is going nuts over these solar visors. Like I said, as far as I know, they weren’t even around before this summer, and now I see them everywhere. They’re particularly popular among the bicycling crowd. Russell just got back from trips to Beijing and Sichuan, and he said they were all over there too. These solar visors are taking the country by storm. And they’re just so tacky. But practical. The Chinese go for practical.
Here are a few shots I took last Saturday of the Solar Visor Madness coursing through the streets of Shanghai these days, and, indeed, possibly all of China:
I hope you’re thinking, “wow, those look really ridiculous.” Because that’s the idea. It’s madness! But it’s kinda fun.
Why do the solar visors look so ridiculous on people in the street? Perhaps they remind you of something? Here are two possibilities:
Of course, it’s not the entire country that has gone mad. A lot of people stick to more traditional (and sometimes quite creative) methods of protecting themselves from the sun:
I just stick to sunglasses, myself. After taking my pictures I gave my own solar visor away to someone who would use it for more than a blog entry. It cost me 7 rmb (less than $1 US).
Have you seen these things before? If not, you probably will soon.
oh god, I saw sooo many of those.
now that I’ve been back not even a day, I miss China.
July 20th, 2004 at 2:33 amActually, the best way to block the sun is to wear a straw Mexican sombrero with a wide brim AND wraparound sunglasses. If the Chinese were truly practical, they’ll start making these sombreros. They’re like the parasols Chinese women use, but they leave both your hands free.
And I don’t think the sun visors are all that tacky–at least, not any more than American baseball caps (the ugliest hats in the world!).
July 20th, 2004 at 7:17 amAdd “solar visor” to my list of things to buy while I’m in China.
I’m so glad to read Xiangchang’s comment about baseball caps. I thought I was the only one.
July 20th, 2004 at 7:42 amFun topic: good to see a) original photos b) some day-to-day lifestyle in Shanghai. When you see beautiful, young looking, 40 year old MILF’s in Shanghai, you can thank such anti-wrinkle measures as umbrella’s in the summer and “solar visors”. I have a solar visor (rigid format in tinted blue) from Disneyland, circa mid-80’s. Genius to add a hinge to the band so it can be a solar mask.
July 20th, 2004 at 8:12 amSighted in Qingdao and Yantai too.
July 20th, 2004 at 9:32 amI’ve seen something like them here in Chennai where people use them for (gasp) motorcycle/scooter protective headgear.
July 20th, 2004 at 9:53 amI also saw a lot of them in Vancouver this spring, by then I thought it’s just a fad there, seems it’s NOT!
July 20th, 2004 at 10:48 amI stuck to the umbrellas to beat the heat in Beijing. Didn’t see many solar visors, but I didn’t pay attention too much.
July 20th, 2004 at 11:12 amAs if Chinese cyclists needed another reason not to use their peripheral vision while riding…
July 20th, 2004 at 11:39 amI asked someone I saw using one in Japan about a year ago and he said they’ve been here in Japan for ages… another Japanese ‘fashion’ disaster making it to China?
July 20th, 2004 at 12:25 pmI believe the proper name for that gizmo is “blast shield helmet.”
July 20th, 2004 at 3:33 pmForget the visor.
Where did you get that shirt?
July 20th, 2004 at 8:56 pmJohn,
You are right on about this sudden visor craze, where did they come from??
Said recently about the visors:”How can they see with those things on?”
Answer: “Have you seen how they steer normally? Not like it makes a difference”.
You forgot one of the classics in your photo montage, however: the wet towel on the head!
I’d say that might be Hangzhou’s most popular summer fashion apparel.
July 20th, 2004 at 9:17 pmI can’t wait until they come State-side…
July 21st, 2004 at 2:14 amThey’re already stateside. I live in California’s San Gabriel Valley, the most Chinese place outside China, and I occasionally see Chinese people wearing those. :p
July 21st, 2004 at 10:14 amIn Toronto, I saw these downtown on a bunch of people I thought were Koreans, but I guess this confirms they were Chinese.
July 21st, 2004 at 12:40 pmBut I want research into that Japanese connection!
July 21st, 2004 at 12:49 pmThey were in Tianjin last summer! I swear!
I meant to post a picture, but never got around to it.
July 21st, 2004 at 1:26 pmI can’t believe the price has dropped so significantly over the last two years!
I first saw a sun visor on He Fang Street in Hangzhou. At that time, a hawker was selling it for 70 RMB (after discount I must say). He claimed that it was imported from South Korea and that’s why such a high price!
I wonder whether China is manufacturing them now? As awkward as it looks, the sun visor (at least the one from Korea that I’ve tried on) is very practical for biking. It’s so much better, clearer and more comfortable than a pair of sun glasses. Best of all, it sheilds a cyclist from all the dusk on the road.
Here in Canada, I’ve seen them in Chinese malls. They go at around USD 12-15 each. What a huge price difference! And what a rip off.
July 21st, 2004 at 1:54 pmMy mom bought one of those but never really used it on the streets because it’s too…interesting. I guess this solar visor craze hasn’t swept Hong Kong yet, but it is available in the market.
July 21st, 2004 at 3:02 pmi bought a solar visor just to be part of something bigger than me. i broke it accidentally about two hours after i bought it, which, you know, probably says something about the girth of my skull.
July 21st, 2004 at 5:36 pmI know someone who could really use one of these. She’s been having trouble keeping her bangs off her forhead & loves those big wrap-around sunglasses. This could combine both!
July 22nd, 2004 at 4:09 amLINK
OK….preliminary prototypes spotted this side of the water last month (see above)…. I give it a few weeks till they metamorphose into the movable solar visor style.
July 22nd, 2004 at 1:20 pmOne thing you cannot overlook is the fact that most of the people in the photos are riding electric bikes or motorbikes, not rusty rickshaws and traditional bikes as portrayed in the 80’s and 90’s. As their society GNP climbs, so does the mode of transportation.
July 23rd, 2004 at 1:08 amLMAO! chinese people always follow trends :) once a trend starts, it will sweep the whole country.
July 23rd, 2004 at 3:44 amOMG! No sooner had I penned a comment than this morning some teenager on a scooter pedalled past me on my way to work this morning wearing none other than A SOLAR VISOR!
Tokyo is about to be gripped by a new accessory. I can feel it….. Or is the heat (record 39.5C) just getting to me!?
July 23rd, 2004 at 11:09 amhello, welcome to China and nice homepage! Hangzhou is my hometown and she is a beautiful city, are you still here? anyway, have a good time here best wishes
July 23rd, 2004 at 5:37 pmI’ve been looking for blogs of people from Shanghai all day. Came across yours. I’ll reach Shanghai in September. I hope that this trend will still be going on strongly. hehe I want to see with my own eyes. ^_^
July 24th, 2004 at 4:09 am7 rmb!!! Shanghai is expensive! I bought one last week for 3 rmb and I have a sneaking suspicion that the Chinese price is 2 rmb. I am not going to use this as a sun blocker, but a spit shield when I am biking past the countless buses on the way to and from work.
July 26th, 2004 at 12:47 pmWell that’s waht you paid the extra dollar for.
July 27th, 2004 at 1:36 am30 messages on a stupid sun visor! Unbelievable! John, I’ve noticed a trend on your blog: people gravitate to the most infantile of subjects and then leave the “heftier” topics alone. It’s truly bewildering. I really wonder if they’re truly THAT interested in sun visors or not. I suspect they are. The intellectual vigor of China is truly depressing. No wonder Dashan’s huge: he’s big, white, and totally nonthreatening; a overgrown prepubescent. Barney & Friends would VERY VERY big in China!
July 27th, 2004 at 2:00 pmDa Xiangchang,
There are two other factors you’re forgetting which help explain the number of comments for this post.
- People comment more on posts with pictures.
- This post has been up a while with nothing newer to replace it!
July 27th, 2004 at 6:25 pmI just saw an old HK man wearing this solar visor in Seattle!! Can you believe this, of all the places, Seattle?!
July 28th, 2004 at 4:48 amSecond visor spotted in Tokyo last nite on way home from work. This time the owner was a middle aged woman. Obviously a trend that reaches across demographics and geographies.
July 28th, 2004 at 10:45 amI haven’t seen any in Guangxi yet, but maybe that is because we are supposed to be “backward” here.
July 29th, 2004 at 12:17 pmCarl’s comment was great about the vizors, practical. I’ve not spotted any in OHIO. Question, do the Chinese ever wear bike helmets?
July 29th, 2004 at 1:14 pmMore often than helmets, Chinese wear cell phones to their ear, chatting away, wearing a business suit or floral dress and high heels, crossing a busy intersection right down the middle in between two buses, a number of sharply weaving taxi’s, other pedestrians, bikers and the occasional VIP black benz. All this and more with extreme loftiness and casual day-to-day flair. It’s an art and it’s only in CHINA.
- Wilson
July 30th, 2004 at 1:43 amdoes the boba fett version come with a rocketpack?
July 30th, 2004 at 2:50 amThe solar-visor craze is spreading it’s tentacles! Today I saw one in Brisbane - I wouldn’t have looked twice if I hadn’t have read this post. But because I had, I had to do a triple-take! It was quite a surreal moment…
July 30th, 2004 at 2:41 pmDoes it really work??? It’s really ugly! :)
July 30th, 2004 at 4:26 pmHey Big Sausage,
how did the exam go?
July 30th, 2004 at 11:01 pmOh, I did alright. ;) Now, time to study for the NEXT one. :(
July 31st, 2004 at 2:59 amThe next one being the ORAL one, I mean. ;)
July 31st, 2004 at 2:59 amI believe we need a new post soon John. Some of us are getting antsy.
July 31st, 2004 at 3:20 amI’m leaving for Shanghai tomorrow, to take my interpretation course, you know, and won’t back till Aug. 21st. I see you’ve been super busy lately. Hope we can meet up there sometime in those 20 days when we both have time.
Rainbow
July 31st, 2004 at 2:44 pmI second Jing (above). John, we want you back =)
July 31st, 2004 at 5:14 pmOK, I’m back in Shanghai. I was planning to do a post or two from Tianjin, but then… I didn’t.
New stuff soon! My mind is backlogged with things to write about.
July 31st, 2004 at 10:18 pmRobert Marquand, “Sun-shy female commuters fuel an Asian fad,” Christian Science Monitor, 18 August 2004.
August 24th, 2004 at 10:48 amFinally!. A link to an online-store.
My mother-in-law saw these visors a couple of times in San Francisco and Crater Lake, Oregon. Since then, everytime I come to asia (Taiwan or Japan) she asks me to get her a couple. They scratch easily but she loves them!
It is a pain to transport them, specially since I like to travel light, and I really do not have room in my suitcase.
Thank you very much for the link to an on-line store to get them in the US.
February 1st, 2005 at 2:53 pmThe craze is spreading further. About 4 months ago I started noticing these around the San Francisco - Bay Area. Now I see them all the time. A car pulled up next to me last week with 4 women (Asian) all wearing these — with the visor down. Too funny.
February 4th, 2005 at 7:53 amI WOULD LIKE TO BUY A SOLAR VISOR. YOUR PHOTOS ARE NOT CURRENTLY APPEARING ON THIS WEB SITE. THANKS, LISA
January 17th, 2006 at 12:43 amlisa marie,
Thanks for alerting me; I wasn’t aware the images weren’t appearing. They should be now.
As for buying the actual solar visors, I can’t help you.
January 17th, 2006 at 1:22 amGreg:
You just know that China will be to world fashion in the 21st century (and beyond) what France was in the 18, 19th, and 20th centuries. See those pointy-toed shoes that women are killing their feet to fit in to in the States? Guess where that craze started.
January 17th, 2006 at 5:25 amJohn
Do you know who makes these visors. I would love to import some.
I live in Texas and let me tell you we need them.
Thanks
Joan
January 27th, 2006 at 3:23 amIn my earlier post I was looking for a manufacturer so I could import these great visors.
Since the post I have found a source. So if anyone is interested in purchasing just email me at nfillmore@sbcglobal.net.
Thanks
Joan
January 29th, 2006 at 7:23 amthis was not just a craze in china… they were in korea way before they even hit th streets of china. no big deal… get with the program. visit any major city with an asia-town back in ‘04 and you’d find ‘em… from san francisco to toronto… but of course they didn’t cost
February 15th, 2006 at 4:28 pmWhere can we buy these? They are great. I live in the states and would love to have one for baseball games.
February 21st, 2006 at 4:28 amI’m desperately trying to find out how to get one of these solar visors here in Los Angeles. I can’t seem to find them on the internet. Help! :)
April 11th, 2006 at 1:00 amI WANT ONE OF THOSE SOO BAD…anyone know where I can order one or a few in the US????
April 28th, 2006 at 8:37 amIf you want to buy these visors go to our website at http://www.suncapcompany.com. We do both retail and wholesale here in the US.
You can email me at nfillmore@sbcglobal.net for more information or to order.
Thanks
Joan
April 28th, 2006 at 10:38 pmthanks joan! I saw one of these being worn by someone in Boston, and thought it was a brilliant idea! Can’t wait to place an order for a couple myself!
July 4th, 2006 at 11:34 amThose are CRAZY! I saw them at the Asian mall and considered sportin’ one ’round my sleepy suburb.
Do you mind if I use some of your images for my blog?
Lemme know, S.
July 21st, 2006 at 3:07 amVERY wise.
July 22nd, 2006 at 4:11 amThank God I finally have some answers. I keep seeing these Asian women with the funky visors in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s nice to know I was not hallicinating. It was so bizarre. I have also seen a few fully covered women driving in what looks like a bee-keeper get up. Is it really that hot here or it’s a culture thing?
July 28th, 2006 at 4:38 amClassic. Now, isn’t this more befitting WTO riot police than little old Chinese ayis?
December 5th, 2006 at 12:25 amThe visors were all over Queens, New York, last summer. (Queens is the “other Chinatown” in New York. Many Taiwanese used to live there, but the ethnic mix of the neighborhood is changing these days.)
Didn’t see any in Taichung, Taiwan, last month.
They will probably be available in the US Walmart’s, maybe this summer.
February 12th, 2007 at 10:51 amThese sun-visors have been around for years, they were in use when I arrived in early 2003. Apart from protecting your face from the sun they’re also very effective at keeping the grit out of your eyes while cycling.
February 15th, 2007 at 4:00 amI see these all the time in Cupertino, CA. People even drive around with them on.. I don’t get it.
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:04 ami saw one here in iowa. i must have one. my searching led me to your site. any tips on how i can get one?
May 27th, 2007 at 5:57 amThey have got to be the ugliest headgear known to man and are a massive detraction from anyone’s appearance. In Vancouver I’ve seen what would otherwise be very attractive chinese women wearing these things. Awful! You see these women driving a classy expensive car, wearing expensive designer clothes, with one of those ugly contraptions on their head. All that money and time spent on car, fashion, makeup, etc and the simple act of wearing one of those visors detracts completely from their appearance. I don’t know. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me the chinese psyche.
May 28th, 2007 at 8:03 amPersonally I would rather have my wife, girlfriend, concubine, etc. looking a little darker than normal rather than knowing she was totin’ around town wearing one of those hideous masks.
June 9th, 2007 at 5:09 pmAnyone know where I can buy some of these in Toronto Canada? Please let me know as soon as possible.
July 11th, 2007 at 11:24 pmI’ve seen asian women in Torrance, California wearing these things which is why I Googled it. These are about the ugliest things I’ve ever seen and I was curious about what the deal was.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:07 pmIf anyone knows who manufactures or designs them, could you please point me in the right direction? I need to ask them to help me to adapt the design for a medical condition (very severe light sensitivity). Unfortunately current design, adult full size, is still too small to offer the complete protection. I know they are made in Korea or China, but so far I had no luck and a couple of US sellers have been unwilling to pass the contact. I hope someone out there knows and can help.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:17 amI saw these all over china recently and wanted one for cycling around London but couldn’t carry up one while backpacking for many months. I finally tracked them down on ebay, though you can buy in bulk from chinese exporters online. SunCapCompany, above, seems to be out of stock. The trick is that they seem to be called a ‘Sun Cap’ or ‘UV Cap’ when translated. The strange thing is I didn’t see them anywhere else in SE Asia.
October 20th, 2007 at 8:43 amI have a friend who owns a store and would be really interested in purchasing these visors for a wholeprice…how can she go about doing so, minimum order and how much?..please advise, thanks
November 17th, 2007 at 9:21 amI saw this all over China when I visited back in May, then actually saw it on the streets of New York a few months later (although, just a few blocks from Chinatown). I thought about buying one to bring back to the US with me, but then quickly realized the joke would be on me if I tried to ride around town in North Carolina wearing such a crazy piece of head gear. Even as a gag-gift I think I’d be the only one laughing….
November 20th, 2007 at 6:38 am哎哟！好笑，那个太阳帽越来越过分了！
December 8th, 2007 at 6:01 pmThis is one of the funniest posts ive seen on here. yet at the same time its pretty wack to go to china and make fun of people. they should come here and do the same thing. keep it up though cuz its funny.
December 31st, 2007 at 3:40 pmThose hats were also big, when i visited Hong Kong in 2006. There was something about them, that made me buy several. it’s just scary.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:48 pmYep, I agree w/ most people here when I say these things are ridiculous. Where’s the point in being pretty if you look like you’re cosplaying Boba Fett?
Also, Asian women in the Bay Area, CA wear these fabric driving gloves in order to cover their hands, which I think is a good idea. However, when white driving gloves is combined with this flip down visor, you end up feeling like you’re surrounded by copies of the Daft Punk guys.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:18 amI live in South Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley(california-just outside los Angeles)and I have been using the face shield for 3 yrs now.I love them I am fairskinned non-asian and tans are skin injuries land besides age one when I compare my carefully protected skin to that of my sisters well they look like they could be my mothers. Whats wrong with taking care of your skin.
June 21st, 2008 at 1:10 amThose have been around for a very long time. They come in clear as well. They are face protection shields normally used in industry and chemical applications. I have a couple of them in my garage. I use the clear one when I am grinding metal and such, and the tinted one for brazing. Welding is to bright for it, so I use a auto darkening welding helmet. Here in Missouri, USA, they cost between $12 and $25 dollars US depending on where you get them. But yes, they have been in the US for as long as I can remember, and Im 46. I have never seen anyone seriously wear them in this way though.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:10 pmActually , Harbor Freight has them for as little as $4.99 for the clear ones, and $7.99 for tinted.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:16 pmI first saw these stupid contraptions being worn by Asian women drivers in Silicon Valley. My first thought was “WTF?!” My second thought, which is a pet-peeve of mine is the ignorance of women drivers: The windshield and windows in the car already provide UV protection. The third was that a friend and I almost got run off the road when we were in the rightmost lane of a dual left turn lane. My friend sped up through the turn to show off the handling of his car (tires howling) when a women in a Mercedes wearing those stupid visors decided to go to the rightmost lane (where we were) in the middle of the turn. Thank goodness for good Audi brakes! She never had a glue that she almost hit us. Ignoramus!
June 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pmThey may look ridiculous but I work with people that are visually impaired and this product would be perfect for a particular client of mine that cannot wear sunglasses and is extremely sensitive to light and glare. I live in Canada would anyone know where to purchase one in Canada or even purchase one on-line.
Thanks for your help.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:02 pmHaha even though this post is four years old, it still rings true. And i came across this video of friends trying to save a guy from the madness that is the sun visor. Check it out
http://www.gib.ca/interventions
Its the sun visor one. Enjoy
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:53 amWhere do we find these awesome visors?
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:43 amYou can buy them at any local dollar store or chinese night market
July 26th, 2008 at 1:08 amFor all the caucasians out there feeling left out, you too can rock the sun bonnet! We bought ours at the Bay in Vancouver, BC. They’re so much fun, and cheap too! 6 dollars for your very own Sun Bonnet!
August 9th, 2008 at 8:57 amOkay seriously… I have to get one of these by the end of the week! If I’m able to get one the guy I’m giving it to assures me that he will wear it all the time and I can NOT miss out on that. Help?
August 12th, 2008 at 4:44 amYou know something, i live in Monterey Park which happens to be one of the most asian populated (if not the highest % population of any city in california) community on the west coast and i see those arc welding masks everywhere i go. They drive with it, eat with it, sleep with it, and ride bikes with it, walk dogs with it, etc. Today however, i found the ultimate offender of all mask wearers. This lady, i swear to god was literally WEARING the car winshield sun reflector of her car around her neck. What are they going to think of next???
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:04 amTo preface, I live near Wshington DC, home of many nations, a real melting pot here for sure, I work in McLean VA near Dulles International Airport,……..I see these Solar Caps, Sun Visor Caps all over the place here. I’m driving to lunch today and look over and sitting in a Yellow Honda Element are two young Chinese girls, maybe 30ish, I have to do a double-take…….I look at them just sitting in their mini van at the light and they both turn to look at me at the same moment …….it was like something from an Anime movie, they both had on Sun Visors, I had to laugh it was so quirky, I thought of the two Chinese majic fairies in those Godzilla/Mothra movies …..I couldn’t help but snicker and think of them looking at me at the same time and singing that loopy Mothra song that those fairies sang. Of all people the Chinese come up with the goofiest yet practical headgear. I can’t help but think of someone huffing and puffing while driving with a Sun Visor over their face and it getting fogged up and them running into a tree or something ……….What’s next??? A body Visor? A Visor Jumpsuit? Bikini Visors?
Sheesh …………
August 26th, 2008 at 3:39 amI live in Southern California and have seen these visors around for a few years, but have never given them a second thought. It wasn’t until my wife wanted to buy some this weekend that I researched the product and its UV protection claims. Thought I’d pass along some information and links…
The U.S Patent is 6,023,784 and was granted to a South Korean company (Il Sung International Company, Ltd) in 2000. The marketing name of this “solar visor” is SOVIS.
A UV-Vis Spectra test was conducted by University of California, Riverside in 2007 on the UV protection capability of the SOVIS visor material.
The visor/shield is made of a polycarbonate film.
The Korean commercial or info video (also found on YouTube) is interesting.
One (maybe only) retail & wholesale distribution channel in the U.S.A. is AXTION SYSTEMS (Buena Park, CA. 888-521-6688).
The Korean-invented SOVIS visor is currently manufactured in China. Beware of knock-off copies that use color/tinted plastic that do not have UV protection. I would suggest using the same caution you would when buying sunglasses.
http://www.sovis-usa.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Bn1GQdYMg&feature=related
http://www.sovis-usa.com/spectra.html
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,023,784.PN.&OS=PN/6,023,784&RS=PN/6,023,784
http://www.tradesourcing.com/manufacturers/663526/ilsunginternationalcoltd.htm
September 8th, 2008 at 1:53 pm