In a bid to spruce up the city’s image, authorities in China’s Nanjing are banning taxi drivers who are bald, wear their hair too long, have mustaches or wear too much makeup, media said on Tuesday.
The new rules are part of a 10-point plan to make Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu province, prettier ahead of October’s 10th National Games, which will draw viewers from across the country, the Chinese news Web site www.sina.com.cn said on Tuesday, citing the Nanjing Morning Post.
“Male taxi drivers cannot have long hair or strange hairstyles, cannot be bald and cannot grow mustaches or goatees,” the report said.
“Women drivers must not use too much makeup and should wear appropriate clothes,” it said.
The report did not mention penalties for drivers who break the rules, but did say that cabbies who refused to pick up passengers could be kept off the streets for up to 15 days.
The strict code comes at a time when middle-class Chinese are embracing all kinds of fashion thanks to two decades of market reforms that have rendered the Mao suit a relic of the past.