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Woman Undergoes 200 Days of Plastic Surgery
FREELANCE fashion writer and self-employed jewellery dealer Hao Lulu (24), an ethnic Manchu living in Beijing, underwent a series of plastic surgery operations at the Beijing cosmetic surgery hospital Evercare.
Lulu underwent 200 days of painful plastic surgery on her entire body, including the creation of double eyelids, a nose tip more pointed and a thinner face, the removal of the wrinkles from her neck, the realigning of her jawbone, and operations on her breasts, abdomen, bottom and legs.
The whole operation cost her $36,230 and was paid by a sponsor who has remained anonymous. Lulu made the big decision in 20 minutes without informing her parents and her American boyfriend.
She hopes her new looks will lead to a career in films. She said, "Nowadays it is technically possible for me to become more physically beautiful. If I can become beautiful both inside and outside, why not?"
Dr Zhou Gang, a doctor who lead the operating team, said that Hao's new appearance would only last for between three and five years.
She's going for head-to-toe makeover
PRETTY is not good enough for 24-year-old Guan Ying. She wants perfection.
She went under the knife last month to make her cheeks fuller, breasts bigger, abdomen flatter, buttocks firmer, waistline smaller, thighs slimmer and legs straighter.
Although she is still recovering, she will have any leftover fat sucked up and subject herself to more massive plastic surgery next month - on her eyelids, nose, ears and calves.
The Guangzhou beauty parlour owner is even thinking of having her leg bones broken, which will take up to two years to heal, to add just 6cm to her 1.62m height.
Miss Guan is one of the growing number of Chinese women willing to go to extremes, not to mention extreme pain, to achieve what they think is perfection.
Although attractive by anyone's standards before surgery, she loathed her long face, small ears, flat chest and crooked legs.
Over the past two months, 17 women from all over China have had much-publicised head-to-toe surgery.
They hope a pretty face and a curvy body will help them achieve their goals, whether it is getting a decent job or making it in show business.
They have been inspired by Beijing fashion writer Hao Lulu. Boldly declaring that she would become China's No. 1 'artificial beauty', she had extensive plastic surgery over six months last year.
Since then, contests have been held in 13 cities - from northern Shenyang to southern Shenzhen and eastern Shanghai to western Chengdu - to select women for a free total makeover.
In Shenzhen alone, the contest attracted 1,089 candidates. Each of the winners, if you can call them that, is spending three to 12 months in surgery.
Their prizes? As many as 16 operations to give them double eyelids, a sharper nose, an oval face, white teeth, a delicate skin, larger breasts and a slim body.
The operations, costing between 100,000 yuan (S$20,800) and 400,000 yuan, are sponsored by cosmetic surgery hospitals. In return, the 'artificial beauty' will serve as the 'image spokesman' for the hospital.
One of those who have already been transformed, Miss Zhang Jing, said the makeover is already transforming her life.
The 25-year-old Tianjin woman who said she had been unable to land a job because of her looks said some companies have shown interest in hiring her after three sponsored facelifts in the last four months.
All Miss Peng Xiaoyue, 22, from Sichuan, wants is a slim figure so that she could pursue her childhood dream to be a singer.
The 1.55m-tall woman has weighed 75kg since 2000.
Though tight-lipped about her ideal weight, the bubbly woman, with a chubby face and big eyes like those of actress Vicki Zhao, said she would like a shapely Marilyn Monroe figure.
During her second operation last weekend, 11kg of fat was removed.
Miss Hao's makeover, meanwhile, has landed her a role in a television drama starring popular Taiwanese boyband F4 in March.
Riding on their apparent success, cosmetic surgery hospitals and clinics have been overwhelmed by patients.
Indeed, every sector of China's beauty industry is booming. Official statistics showed that with 1.54 million beauty saloons, beauty businesses were worth 168 billion yuan and sales of cosmetic products reached 160 billion yuan at the end of 2002.
One famous address for complete makeovers, the Plastic Surgery Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, had to set up a 24-hour hotline and it is still jammed with enquiries.
Mr Bao Huai, public relations manager of Evercare, the cosmetic hospital which carried out Miss Hao's surgery, called it a win-win situation for both patients and hospitals.
'While Miss Hao has realised her dream of getting into show business, Evercare is doing a thriving business, seeing a two-fold increase in business volume,' he said.
People are willing to fork out 600 yuan to 15,000 yuan for popular operations to get double eyelids, sharper noses, bigger breasts and slimmer bodies.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, a survey last month showed that 62 per cent of the respondents had been thinking of having plastic surgery as they believed it could help to boost confidence.
Ms Lily Wei, 35, a marketing executive with a foreign company in Beijing, spent 20,000 yuan to have her face reshaped last year.
'Everybody enjoys being attractive,' she said. 'I've gained confidence when I am out meeting people with my new look.'
Some scholars attribute the trend to the opening up of Chinese society, which encourages people to seek beauty.
A psychology lecturer at People's University, Mr Wang Weidong, said: 'Artificial beauty is the trend of the time. There is no need to fuss over it.'
But critics warn it is unhealthy to go to such extremes for the sake of external beauty.
Professor Deng Weizhi of Shanghai University said: 'A person should not be judged only by his looks. While pursuing a beautiful image, people should put more effort in developing their character.'
Though happy to see brisk business, some plastic surgeons have urged caution.
Dr Zhou Gang of Evercare warned women that even the simplest operation has its risks.
He told The Sunday Times: 'People should understand that cosmetic surgery cannot fix all problems. While it's natural that everyone wants to be beautiful, serious consideration and thorough discussion with doctors are needed before going ahead with cosmetic surgery.'
In fact, many operations have gone wrong. About 200,000 people have reportedly been disfigured in cosmetic surgery accidents in the last 10 years.
Earlier this month, a young woman in Zhuhai died while getting her breasts enlarged.
However, neither the potential dangers nor the critics faze Miss Guan or Miss Peng.
Miss Guan said: 'With the full support of my parents and friends, there's nothing to be worried about as I have absolute trust in the doctors.'
Though she had pangs of regret when she was in pain after her operations, Miss Peng is adamant about her choice.
She said: 'Vanity is just human nature. For some, it can take the form of money or a career; for me, it means a beautiful look. Though I cannot control what people think, I just wish they could respect my decision.'
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/women/story/0,4395,230753,00.html
This is an online ad campaign using Hao Lulu - Miss Plastic Surgery 2003 - to promote 'medical beauty enhancement services' by Evercare Medical Institution.
Last year Hao Lulu had head-to-toe plastic surgery as a publicity stunt for Evercare. It seems to have worked. Below the tagline 'Make the change that will change your life' is a list of media organizations that wrote about Hao's operations. They range from CNN to That's Beijing.
Here is the Evercare / Hao Lulu promotional site (in Chinese). A Brainysmurf post about the affair is here, and there is more about it on danwei.org here.
http://www.danwei.org/2004/01/make_the_change.html