It might sound like a weird dilemma to you. But many young Chinese are hesitating whether or not to wear their Qiuku, or Chill Cool, now that winter is just around the corner.

The most popular topic on Weibo, as of Nov.2, brought by the cold spell recently seized China, is “have you put on your Chill Cool yet?”

Chill Cool, the latest coinage by the genius Chinese web users, refers to the long underwear pants that used to be everyone’s autumn and winter-wear in China. The Mandarin name for them, Qiu Ku, or autumn pants, sounds like Chill Cool, hence the English.

Similar to the Mao suit, Qiu Ku, or Chill Cool, is the most typical modern-day Chinese clothes, used to be an essential item in all Chinese people’s wardrobe. Yet recent years have seen a trend of young people resisting wearing them, especially young women, mainly because they don’t think it is a fashionable look. Lots of young girls think that they add to the girth of their legs, making them “elephants’ legs”. They’d rather wear stockings and dresses even in the most bitter winter weather than to wear their “Chill Cool”.

The ingenuity of the name “Chill Cool” is that besides its uncanny sound resemblance, it is also a clever summary of the Chinese young people’s mentality, which is “I might feel the chill, but I sure look cool”. No surprise it became the hottest new word on Weibo soon after its coinage,.

A Weibo Opinion poll asked a simple question “Are you a ‘Qiu Ku’ Gang?” meaning are you one of those people who wear Chill Cool? The result, contrary to popular belief, is that most people still wear their Chill Cool, which is quite surprising since most of the Weibo fans are young people who are, supposedly, against wearing them.

Yet the reason was soon revealed in a pie chart which titled “why you are wearing your Qiuku”. There are apparently only two reasons. Reason one, because “you are cold” occupies only a tiny fraction of the chart, while the other one, because “your mum thinks you are cold” is apparently dominant.

In case you don’t understand why “your mum thinks you are cold” could be the reason why people put on the Chill Cool despite their reluctance, read this post and you might find some answers.