It's not just women who want to look prettier.

Doctors say a growing number of men want to go under the knife to improve their noses and other body parts.

Sun Baoshan, deputy director of the plastic surgery department at Shanghai No 9 People's Hospital, a highly regarded state-owned hospital for plastic surgery in Shanghai, says this year the number of patients looking into elective surgery has jumped 30 percent from 2007 - and there are also more men.

"An eye-catching trend is that more male patients appear on the long waiting lists for an operation," Sun says.

He adds that during the summer, some 50 percent of his patients were young men between 19 and 23 years old. Two years ago, the percentage of male patients was less than 15 percent.

The Spring Festival, summer holiday and weeklong national day holiday are peak times for plastic surgeons.

Xiao Gang, a senior university student majoring in public affairs, made an appointment this week and wants to improve his appearance by lifting his nose and narrowing his face.

"Nowadays, many businesses have a preference for good-looking candidates when they are looking for employees in the service sector, such as public affairs personnel," Xiao says. "A perfect appearance can help me gain extra points when competing for a job."

Luckily, Xiao has gained the support of his mother, who worries about the risk but wants him to get a good job in these tough times.

Xiao Gang went to Shanghai No 9 Hospital for counseling in the summer, but was disappointed to learn the operation schedule was fully booked through August.

Besides queries for double eyelids and higher noses, some male patients ask for sharper chins, narrower faces, dimple making and liposuction operations, Sun says.

"The tough job market and robust show business are cited as the main reasons these young men are having face-lifting operations," Sun says. In recent years, Sun has also noticed an increasing number of middle-aged men among his patients, many in business.

A 40-something businessman, surnamed Zhou, visited Sun last week to talk about a nose operation.

Liu told Sun that a physiognomist (fortune-teller that reads facial features) believed that it was his flat nose that was influencing his fortune negatively.

Besides a flat nose, short eyebrows and a flat forehead, moles are also blamed for bringing bad luck and fortune-tellers often suggest business people repair these inauspicious facial features with plastic surgery.

According to a recent survey of office workers by Shanghai Online, more than 42 percent of respondents said they would consider a face-lifting operation if the cost was reasonable.

(China Daily December 31, 2008)