Chen Yan is 35 and fears middle age is upon her, so like all of her friends she sees cosmetic surgery as the solution: time to get a new nose.
Plastic surgery is booming in China, fueled by rising incomes, growing Western influences, and the imperative of looking good on social media.
Some parents are even paying for teenage children to get work done to help their employment prospects.
“We Chinese think that after you’ve married, given birth to a kid and you’re past 30, they call you a middle-aged woman,” said Chen.
“I don’t want to be a middle-aged woman that early.”
The shop owner travelled from the central province of Hunan to pay 52,515 yuan ($8,000) in a quest for the perfect nose at Shanghai’s private Huamei Medical Cosmetology Hospital.
Spread over four floors and featuring a peaceful convalescent roof garden complete with tea house, the vast majority going under the knife are young women.
It offers an array of options including breast augmentation, ear shaping, bone shaving, pubic-hair transplants and a procedure that promises to reduce armpit odor.
SUMMER RUSH
Stepping inside the hospital is like entering a five-star hotel.
In the immaculate foyer, patients are greeted by bowing hostesses in striped blouses, short black skirts and high heels as soothing music plays. A sign outside entices teachers and students with a 20-percent summer discount.
The surgeon Li Jian says 90 percent of his patients are women aged 16 to 70.
The under-40s want to look more beautiful, the over-40s want to look younger.
The most requested procedures involve removing bulk from the face and body, and nose jobs — Chinese women typically seek slimmer, more “Western-looking” noses.
This year 14 million Chinese are expected to have cosmetic surgery, a 42 percent surge from last year, according to SoYoung, a popular app on the industry that used data from several sources including international consultancy Deloitte.
Summers are especially busy at the Shanghai clinic because recent university graduates believe better looks lead to better employment prospects, particularly in the entertainment business.
Increasing numbers seek plastic surgery in their teens, although the hospital does not treat those under 16, while 16 and 17 year olds require parental consent.
“Most Chinese people believe the thinner the face or nose, the more beautiful they look,” Li said.
“Some people want to make themselves more beautiful when they take pictures of themselves. So they want themselves to become more European,” he added.
“As a plastic surgeon I don’t think that is beautiful, at least that is not Chinese style. So I refuse many girls who have that kind of opinion.”
