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12 images Created 25 Aug 2011

CHINA NIP AND TUCK

The beau­ti­cian from Chair­man Mao’s home­ town­ looks at her­self in the mir­ror and­ bursts into tear­s of joy. Forty pounds lighter, jaw slim­mer, eyes and nose re­fined, breasts lifted, 30-year-old Chen Jing has just been through an ex­treme makeover for a Chi­nese re­al­ity show called Lovely Cin­derella.
It’s a sharp in­sight into China’s own makeover, as a con­sumer gen­er­a­tion moves ever fur­ther from com­mu­nist found­ing fa­ther Mao Ze­dong’s era of drab-is-beau­ti­ful aus­ter­ity.
Men and women to­gether spent $12 bil­lion US on beauty prod­ucts in 2005, up 13 per cent from the pre­vi­ous year, ac­cord­ing to the China As­so­ci­a­tion of Per­fume, Essence­ and Cos­met­ics In­dus­try.
The United States Cos­metic, Fra­grance, and Toi­letry As­so­ci­a­tion­ last year called China its “largest fu­ture growth mar­ket,” and­ com­pa­nies like Avon Prod­ucts Inc., Mary Kay Inc., L’Ore­al SA, and Proc­ter & Gam­bleCo. are­ all fight­ing for a share.
HaoLulu, a Bei­jing fash­ion writer and as­pir­ing ac­tress, be­came a sen­sa­tion in the Chi­nese­ me­dia— which­ dubbed­ her the “Ar­ti­fi­cial Beauty”— af­ter she had 16 surg­eries to redo her eyes, lips, nose, cheeks, neck, breasts, up­per arms, but­tocks, thighs and calves.
The risks some take for beauty can be har­row­ing, es­pe­cially in an in­dus­try that lacks reg­u­la­tion.
Wang Jun­hong, a 37-year-old fash­ion re­tailer from Guangzhou in south China’s Guang­dong prov­ince, col­lected el­e­gant Euro­pean trousers that sheadored but couldn’t wear be­cause she was only 5-foot-2.
So she spent $9,700 to gain five cen­time­tres in a pro­ce­dure that in­volved break­ing her legs, driv­ing pins into the bone and grad­u­ally crank­ing the pins apart tolengthen the­bones as they heal.
“The­ more I thought about doin­g it, the moreI was con­vinced I had to do it,” said Wang, as she lay in a hospi­tal bed in 2005, her legs en­cased­ in­ bru­tal-look­ing frames with spokes that jabbed through her bones.
Her treat­ment went smoothly, but Chi­nese­ me­di­a fre­quently re­por­t on ­bun­gles that re­sult in­ de­for­mity and ­in­fec­tion. In Novem­ber, the Health­ Min­istry banned the pro­ce­dure ex­cept for med­i­cal rea­sons.
Lovely Cin­derel­la pro­ducer Wang Zhiyi said that while his show is meant as en­ter­tain­ment, it’s also cau­tion­ary. The footage is graphic, show­ing­ grotesquely swollen post-oper­a­tive faces and sur­geons vig­or­ously suck­ing­ fat fro­m a­ con­tes­tant’s waist.
A video clip shows Chen, the beau­ti­cian, cry­ing out on the op­er­at­ing ta­ble for her hus­band and for more anes­thetic. Later, she is shown throw­ing up and weep­ing in her hospi­tal room be­cause shemisses her five-year-old son.
But as she gazes at her­self in front of the stu­dio au­di­ence, the­ mem­o­ries seem to­ e­vap­o­rate­ like the the­atri­cal fog­ blasted out of fire ex­tin­guish­ers as she steps to the mir­ror. Text by Alexa Olesen
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  • A Plastic surgeon looks at an eyelid surgery procedure done on a young inner Mongolian immigrant in Beijing, China Oct. 26, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. .Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947..
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 02
  • Hao Lulu, famous in China for her drive to transform herself through plastic surgery prepares to undergo her 22nd operation in Beijing, China Aug. 24, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 03
  • X-rays of a leg streching operation lie on a surgeons's light table in Beijing, China May 15, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 04
  • Hao Lulu, famous in China for her drive to transform herself through plastic surgery shows off her buttocks implants to her doctors before undergoing her 22nd operation in Beijing, China Aug. 24, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 05
  • An eyelid surgery patient rests after undergoing a procedure in Beijing, China Oct. 26, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. .Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 01
  • A Chinese woman who underwent a leg streching operation shows the ammount of leg growth she is hoping to achieve in Beijing, China May 15, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 06
  • A contestant of the Plastic Surgery makeover television contest "Lovely Cinderella" speaks to the camera after an operation in Changsha, Hunan,  China Dec. 1, 2006. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. .Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 07
  • Hao Lulu, famous in China for her drive to transform herself through plastic surgery greets the media as she prepares to undergo her 22nd operation in Beijing, China Aug. 24, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 08
  • A Plastic surgeon performs an eyelid surgery procedure done on a young inner Mongolian immigrant in Beijing, China Oct. 26, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. .Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 09
  • An eyelid surgery patient rests after undergoin a procedure in Beijing, China Oct. 26, 2005. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. .Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 10
  • A contestant of the Plastic Surgery makeover television contest "Lovely Cinderella" prepares to take off her mask after undergoing various operations in Changsha, Hunan,  China Dec. 1, 2006. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 12
  • A contestant of the Plastic Surgery makeover television contest "Lovely Cinderella" looks at herself after 6 months of not having looked in the mirror while she was   undergoing various operations in Changsha, Hunan,  China Dec. 1, 2006. An Estimated one million Chinese people per year flocking to plastic surgery as a way to boost their confidence as expendable incomes grow. Fueling the trend is a desire to compete in a rapidly changing society where image and first impressions count and social stigmas on buying perfection are few. A few decades ago, a Chinese woman could have been denounced and maybe even beaten for wearing lipstick, much less undergoing surgery to improve their looks. In the 1960s and 1970s, the closest thing to a Chinese beauty ideal was Liu Hulan, a robust 15-year-old country girl with a practical bob and not a trace of makeup who was decapitated by the Nationalists when she refused to name her fellow Communists in 1947.
    CHINA NIP AND TUCK 13