With private wealth accumulating, increasing numbers of Chinese want the ideal face promised by plastic surgeons. Today the Chinese who get face-lifts are younger than ever before; many are high school or college students.

During this year's summer holiday, Hangzhou Plastic Surgery Hospital swarmed with patients. Unbelievably busy, these plastic surgeons had daily schedules crammed with back-to-back operations lasting from 9 AM to 4 PM. Significantly, 70 percent of their patients were college-bound high school graduates and college seniors. Undoubtedly, they were the major force of the large pro-plastic-surgery army this summer.

According to Tan Xiaoyan, the hospital's deputy director and professor of treatment, most of these young people do not have any defects in their faces or bodies. They simply wanted to enhance their appearance through surgery. She revealed that minor plastic surgeries such as eyelid reconstruction and nose jobs were still popular with young patients. Major operations: liposuction and breast augmentation, were rapidly gaining popularity as well. Tan said that now even middle school students under the age of 18 wanted their faces remade. Considering they are not fully grown, doctors usually politely turn down their requests. Tan reported that her hospital had already refused a flock of middle school students.

Parents, who were previously against the idea of plastic surgery, have apparently now changed their attitudes. They frequently accompany their children to hospitals for operations. Some of them even embrace the surgeries more enthusiastically than their children. They believe that they have to make their children "prettier" in order to insure future success.

A mother accompanying her daughter to the Hangzhou Plastic Surgery Hospital was very excited with her daughter's future post- operation looks. Holding a computer-generated picture of her girl's would-be face, she happily showed it to everyone present, while rhetorically asking if her daughter appeared prettier.

Another mother, whose child has been admitted to college, argued that since children would soon enter a highly competitive society, parents should take initiatives to prepare them. She felt that by offering children a chance to enhance their looks they would gain a more competitive edge in both school and society.

Like everything in the world, plastic surgery has two sides. It can be beneficial and it can be dangerous. Failed surgeries will destroy facial textures, resulting in devastating damages, both physical and psychological. Even if operations succeed, patients have to endure a long period of unsightly swelling, miscellaneous pain and possible infection. Besides, plastic surgery is quite expensive. A minor operation, such as adding a crease to the upper eyelid, costs over one thousand yuan. A major one, liposuction for example, is much more expensive, at least ten thousand yuan. This is quite a burden for an ordinary family.

What drives young Chinese to sign up for such painful and expensive treatments? A survey, conducted collaboratively by Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital and New Image Plastic Surgery Hospital, shows that 70.3 percent of polled college students see plastic surgery as a way of sharpening their competitive edge. Due to the severely competitive job market, they realize that employers are very likely to recruit better-looking people from a pool of equally talented applicants.

Moreover, many Chinese youth have below average self-esteem. Often they feel lost amid China's modern and fiercely competitive society. Some abuse themselves; others fall prey to mental disorders. Many young people attribute all their dissatisfactions and failures to a lack of physical charm. Without considering the consequences they choose to better their looks artificially because plastic surgery is viewed as an easy way to boost self-confidence.

Psychologically speaking, appearance alteration is indeed a good approach to rebuild confidence. Plastic surgery can indeed boost self-confidence. But good looks should never be the absolute basis for self-confidence. Rather, self-confidence is ultimately based on knowledge and skills. Experts advise young people to emphasize enhancing their psychological and intellectual capacities instead of what just meets the eyes.

Prof. Zhu Fazhen with Zhejiang University's School of Humanities, commented that it is pretty shallow for young people to think appearances could enhance self-confidence. He said that intellectual ability and work skills are keys to success. He suggested that parents and society should correctly guide young people because they have not yet attained maturity.

(China.org.cn by Pang Li August 8, 2007)