Q: Dear Uncle Wang,
I read that a number of students in Shanghai
get plastic surgery in summer holiday. Seriously?
A: Since
summer holiday started, an increasing number of high school graduates have been
going to hospitals for cosmetic surgery. Some students want to arrive at the
first day of college looking their best. Others were pushed there by their
overly ambitious parents, who think that good looks are the secret to success
in China.
According
to statistics from Shanghai Time Plastic Surgery Hospital, the majority of
their clients over the summer holiday are recent gaokao grads, university
students and overseas returnees. Girls make up 80 percent, but the hospital has
also seen more boys asking for surgery in recent years.
June to
August is the peak time for students undergoing plastic surgery, the longest
break of the school year which gives them time to recover. But due to the high
demand, appointments for plastic surgery at local hospitals fill up fast.
Another big hospital, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital receives at least 60
consultations every day.
For
students contemplating cosmetic enhancement, many opt for traditional plastic
surgery instead of injections like Botox because they are more expensive. The
most popular surgeries among students are double eye-lids, nose and lip work.
Going
over to South Korea for plastic surgery used to be a common "summer
holiday" among Chinese students. But after the recent scandals and medical
complications that have plagued cosmetic surgery hospitals in Korea, Chinese
are now staying in their motherland to get their nips and tucks.
Some
young people are also "redoing" their faces after failed surgeries
overseas. For example, one Chinese teen who got two plastic surgeries in just
three days in Korea found that the sides of her face have started to droop
unequally. Thus she will have to have her entire face redone in Shanghai.
Many
graduates getting plastic surgery hope to increase their self-confidence after
becoming more attractive. They believe this will help them obtain better jobs
or find a good husband. Some will even have their faces replicated exactly like
popular celebrities.
With the
financial support of their parents and the rising influence of pop culture
icons, Chinese students today see plastic surgery like just getting a haircut
or manicure.
What most
don't realize, however, and what doctors don't inform them, is that plastic
surgery is not permanent. Patients will have to keep going back for maintenance
and repairs the rest of their life.
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