List of sun protection "shen qi (magical tools)"

[Photo/CFP]

1. Face-kini, on Qingdao's beaches

2. Long oversleeves, usually wore by women when cycling and motoring

3. Umbrellas, with an inside "radiation protection" layer

4. So-called semi-transparent sun protection overcoat

On taobao.com, the country's largest shopping bazaar, prices of umbrellas tagged with anti-ultraviolet-rays range from 30 to 300 yuan, and the most popular ones, usually those between 30 to 50 yuan each, can sell up to 36,000 within 30 days.

A rising star in the competitive market is an all-black fold umbrella sold at 250 yuan, claimed to be 50 percent off from the original price "for the summer". Named as BlackHole, the umbrella is marketed as capable of preventing 99 percent of the ultraviolet sun rays for the double layers of "high-tech anti-UV coating" it has. Just launched in May this year on Tmall.com, the business-to-customer version of taobao, it has been sold for 4,400 for the past one month.

Jacqueline Kao, senior director of Totes, the American umbrella making company, is seeing a similar craze in the Chinese market.

"The first thing they ask when walking into our store is the sun prevention umbrella, be it winter or summer. In winter, they usually come shopping for umbrellas when they need travel to sunny places," as Kao told China Daily.

The weather wear brand was founded in 1924 in Ohio and has its biggest breakthrough after its transparent umbrellas appeared in the fashion sitcom Gossip Girl. It started to have its products, including rainboots, hats and umbrellas, sold in China’s sleek shopping malls and department stores in Shanghai and Beijing since last year.

Kao added that while the sun prevention umbrellas, sold from 200 to 400 yuan each and boast over SPF50 sunscreen, are exclusive for the Asian market, her company is seeing a reversed trend back in the American market.

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