For a while, bikinis were mostly confined to the stage and magazines after their first appearance because very few people were courageous enough to wear them in real life. "People would regard you as flirtatious or of loose morals," says Peng.

It wasn't until 1995, ten years after the bikini first appeared in public, that two-piece swimsuits first became available in Chinese shops - but they were usually placed in a low-profile corner of stores as few people bought them.

"I clearly remember the first time I bought a bikini," recalls 34-year-old Zhang Ying. "It was 10 years ago after I finished a business trip in Europe." Lured by the pictures of scantily-clad lovelies in foreign magazines, she decided to buy one in Beijing.

At that time swimwear was only seasonal and few stores had big swimwear sections. After searching the city, Zhang finally bought a simple two-piece swimsuit, with a vest-like upper and boxer shorts. "It may be the most conservative bikini in the world but it was the boldest daily swimwear in China then," she says.

Sadly, Zhang only wore her dear bikini in public once. "When I wore it in the pool everybody stared at me and my mum severely scolded me," she sighs, the smile instantly gone.

How things have changed. Since 2000, bikinis have witnessed a surprising growth in China. Says Peng: "Bikinis accounted for more than a quarter of our brand's swimsuit sales in 2005.

"The young generation, growing up under the policy of opening up and now in their twenties, have a strong acceptance of new things and have turned out to be the main buyers of bikinis. They think it natural to show off the beauty of their bodies with the sexy suits."

Liu Rong admits that she has four bikinis, and all her friends have at least two. "More and more communities in Beijing now have indoor swimming pools, so we can swim throughout the year," she says.

"Isn't it too dull to wear the same stuff all the time?" But she admits it was a real challenge to wear a bikini with tiny G-string briefs and small triangular bras, which are quite popular in the West. "We usually choose conservative styles," she says, "as such a hot style is more likely to be worn in the bedroom, but not in public pools."

The bikini is now far more than just a swimsuit. As more and more Chinese take hot spring baths, beach holidays and massages, they have become a wardrobe necessity.

"Bikini-like underwear sells like hot cakes," says Cao Jing, marketing manager of Odifen, a popular lingerie brand in China.

"It has even changed the way people choose their lingerie, as women no longer feel shy or are criticized for appearing sexy and alluring with bold lingerie. Sometimes we even follow bikini fashion when designing our products."