Chinese Clothing History

Climate and Chinese Clothing

China's climate ranges from year-round tropical heat in Hainan to Siberian conditions in the far north and typical desert weather in the far west. What to wear usually depends on the weather where you are at.

In winter, most parts of China would be in a cold spell , especially more so in the northern part .
So it is advisable to wear layers of garments, normally, thermal or silk underwear with a sweater and padded jacket outside.

Padded jackets and wool-lined boots are one of the best buys in China, you could easily buy one when you need.

For travel during spring or summer, your clothing should be casual and designed for comfort, without being too revealing. Take light cotton clothes that are easily washed and not too delicate. Trousers are still necessary for women traveling to China, since many temples are forbidden to those who wear skirts.

For travel during the rainy season, from May to August, a raincoat is necessary.

Ancient Chinese Clothing

People in China generally wore tunics (like long t-shirts). Women wore long tunics down to the ground, with belts, and men wore shorter ones down to their knees. Sometimes they wore jackets over their tunics.

In the winter, when it was cold, people wore padded jackets over their tunics, and sometimes pants under them. In early China, poor people made their clothes of hemp or ramie. Rich people wore silk.

Most people in China, both men and women, wore their hair long. People said that you got your hair from your parents and so it was disrespectful to cut it.

During the Sui Dynasty, in the 500's AD, the emperor decided that all poor people had to wear blue or black clothes, and only rich people could wear colors.