In response to popular demand, local authorities have endeavored to provide Shanghai residents with more public swimming pools over the summer, including allowing the use of school pools to the public. However, one capricious swimmer has spoiled everyone's fun in the sun by persisting to wear a provocative thong swimsuit at a local high school.

I'm sure this would not have ever been an issue had the swimmer been a young woman in a G-string, but unfortunately for both male and female bystanders, the offending exhibitionist is a man in his 60s who prefers to wear a thong instead of shorts.

Staff at Shanghai Gezhi High School, where the pool is located, told ThePaper.cn that he has been using their pool for nearly seven years and has always dressed "scantily." Nonetheless, despite numerous complaints and an attempt by local police to persuade him to alter his sartorial preferences, there is nothing anyone can legally do to stop him as Shanghai has no laws or regulations prohibiting swimmers from wearing thongs.

The man, whose swimwear exposes his entire buttocks, identifies himself as a "Chinese American," and obnoxiously waves his nationality (along with his private parts) in the face of others to emphasize that it is common practice to wear revealing clothes in the US. "You Chinese haven't opened up yet," he was reported as saying.

Based on the sheer amount of butt cleavage that can be seen among shorts-wearing women on the sidewalks of Shanghai over the summer, I beg to differ. Since the first form-fitting qipao skirt was tailored in the 1800s, Shanghai has remained one of the most "open" cities in China if not all of Asia.

The issue, then, is do we really need to be exposing even more flesh, especially at public venues, and specifically at high school swimming pools? Although the elderly man's genitalia are covered by his thong, the sight of his buttocks has made many of the other swimmers uncomfortable. Of greater concern, however, are the numerous juveniles at the pool who are frequently exposed to his near-nudity.

While the man has never been caught interacting with the kids who use the pool, exhibitionists by nature are titillated by exposing themselves to others; perverts in particular receive sexual gratification just by "flashing" their private parts to unsuspecting boys and girls.

For now we can give this man the benefit of the doubt that he has no indecent intentions and has simply just been around too many American beaches, where string bikinis have in the past decade become the swimwear of choice among adults and teens.

But here in China, such outfits are still not accepted by the public. Even though Western street clothes have become all the rage among urban residents, Western swimwear has not. Swimmers young and old alike prefer modest one-piece bathing suits over bikinis. Literally the only place you will ever see a string bikini in China is at a car show, but even car babes are now required to cover up following a backlash in public attitudes.

Though there is no law in Shanghai against wearing a thong in public, there is absolutely no good reason for this man to go against the grain. It is highly unlikely that exposing his buttocks helps him swim faster or better; I don't recall ever seeing Sun Yang's or Ye Shiwen's arse during the Olympic Games. Nor does his argument that he is "Chinese American" hold any water, pun intended. After all, he is in China, using a public pool patronized by Chinese.

It shows good character to respect the cultures and customs of a foreign country. In quite a few nations in the Middle East, exposing one's arms or legs is considered highly offensive, and tourists are advised to cover their bodies just as locals do. Would this man be just as obstinate in, say, a Syrian swimming pool?

It is said that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," and even though we Shanghainese pride ourselves on our progressiveness, public opinion prevails in the People's Republic.