Spending time at the beach is probably the last thing you think of when visiting or living in China. There is just something about white beaches and curling blue waves that doesn't quite jive with the usual image of the Middle Kingdom. But tucked away on the shores of Shandong Province, the city of Qingdao offers visitors a chance to enjoy some sand and surf.

Dating back to the early 1900s and stretching 800 meters, Qingdao's Number One Beach is dotted with tents and umbrellas. Tanned old men of various shapes and sizes jog along the sand in black speedos, chatting animatedly and dodging children who scurry about, looking for shells under the watchful eyes of their umbrella-wielding mothers.

Halfway along the beach is the Chinese equivalent of California's Venice Muscle Beach. An area, bordered by fading green houses that showcase traditional German architecture that hint at the city's colonial past, is filled with rows of aging gym equipment. You won't see any chiseled abs, lats and pecs here, just pensioners and a few younger guys socializing, drinking tea and doing the odd bench press and chin-up in between.

This beach is also a prime location to see swim-wear that confounds most tan-hungry Westerners. To protect their faces from the sun, some Chinese women wear nylon balaclava-type masks, complete with slits that expose their eyes, noses and mouths, while swimming in the sea. This is because, in China, women favor white skin above all else. The quintessential sign of beauty and refinement, having fair skin implies that you lead a pampered, successful life that allows you to spend most of your time indoors. Light complexions are the complete opposite of the darker, tanned, lined faces of Chinese farmers and others who work outdoors. 

Nowadays, China's masked swimmers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with some taking to extreme anti-sun measures that can include wearing black rubber wetsuits to cut their sun exposure to an absolute minimum.

Locals are clearly used to such swim attire and no one bats an eyelid. Groups of women, gathering and chatting through their white, orange, yellow and red masks, stretch together before heading into the surf, like super-heroes off to save the world that lies beneath the waves.

To foreign eyes these ladies may look amusing, but in 20 years, they'll probably have the last laugh with their unlined, youthful-looking skin.