Pre-Olympic fashion prep in Beijing

In the latest effort to get the country ready for the upcoming Olympics in 2008, the Ministry of Public Security has ordered the nation’s police officers to pay attention to fashion.

Chinese media reported Thursday that the Ministry issued an order to “establish a good image for the people’s police”. This apparently includes abstaining from strange colors of hair dye, shaving beards and sideburns and leaving the accessories at home.

The Beijing News reported the orders as such: “When police are in uniform on duty, they are not allowed to wear scarves or jewellery, paint their nails, or have colourfully dyed hair. Male police officers cannot have long or curly hair, sideburns, shave their hair bald or have beards.”

Female police officers cannot have hair which is longer than their shoulders and no police officer is now permitted to wear coloured glasses unless required to do so by a medical condition. In addition the nation’s law enforcers have been warned against smoking in public or entering bars while in uniform unless they are doing so for the purpose of work.

Police aren’t the only ones being told how to look. In April, female taxi drivers were told they must not have red or yellow dyed hair or wear “chunky” earrings.

The Chinese government wants to make a good impression when the world comes knocking for the big Olympic party in 2008.