Our son, Landon, was born in New York City in the middle of an extremely cold winter. He became resilient to cold weather as a result. When the following spring arrived, he stopped wearing socks with his shoes or sandals. It was September when we moved to China and the weather was still quite hot. I took him to a park near our apartment. Along the way, several older ladies stopped me to say, "How can you leave the house without putting socks on him? He is going to catch cold." At first, I tried to explain to them that he is not cold and that he is used to not wearing socks. But after the first couple of ladies spoke to me, I started to get annoyed. I wanted to tell them to mind their own business, but I didn't want to be too rude or confrontational. So, I pretended I couldn't understand them. I was literally interrupted at every block. After a few trips to the park, I got so frustrated and annoyed by the constant nagging that I finally gave in and bought a few pairs of socks for him to wear.

Later I noticed that most Chinese women, especially those over the age of forty, wear socks all year round. In the summer, you will find older Chinese women wear ankle-length nude socks with their sandals. The younger and more fashion-conscious ones often wear pantyhose even on the hottest summer days. And others would wear knee-high nylons with their skirts. The look was pretty horrible from a fashion standpoint, but more importantly, how could they stand wearing socks in the heat and humidity?

A few months later, a family friend explained to us the virtue of wearing socks all year round. Many older Chinese believe that it is crucial to keep the feet warm, especially in the middle of the summer heat. The sweat glands are concentrated in the feet. When the body is hot, the pores in the feet are open to ventilate. That is when cold air is most likely to enter the body through the feet. If the feet are not kept warm, then one could catch a cold. The cold air trapped in the body could also give one backaches, neck and shoulder pains, or even headaches. In fact, this friend recommended that we wear socks to bed. He told us that when he started wearing socks to sleep that all his back problems went away. He was so persuasive in his arguments that both Bryan and I thought he should quit his day job to open a sock store!

Despite my initial skepticism, I did try wearing socks to bed a few times when I felt an ache in my back. I must admit that it did work for me. Now I sound like a sock advocate whenever I tell my friends who have pain problems to wear socks to bed. But my vanity will not allow me to wear socks in the summer with sandals. That is a fashion faux pas too terrible to commit.

(selected from 101 Stories for Foreigners to Understand Chinese People by Yi S. Ellis and Bryan D. Ellis, published by China Intercontinental Press in 2012)