What's behind the 'plastic face' look in China?

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China is a country of 1.3 billion people. Yet, wander around Sanlitun, the prosperous commercial center of Beijing, and you’ll find lots of women with the same features – big eyes, small noses, and pointed chins. They are called “shejinglian” by netizens, which means “faces like a snake” in Chinese. The term references a character from the traditional Chinese cartoon “Calabash Brothers.”

The comparison between “Shejinglian” in real life and a character from the cartoon 'Calabash Brothers.'/Photo via Baidu

“Plastic face” is a more common way to describe them. According to Urban Dictionary, “plastic face” refers to a person who has had so much cosmetic surgery, that it’s often met with disgust or shock.

A Chinese girl who admits making plastic surgery and has extreme aesthetic./VCG Photo

However, should we be disgusted with plastic surgery? For some people, the procedure is a way to pursue beauty, in a bolder way.

The demand for plastic surgery

The Chinese plastic surgery market is booming, with more than seven million operations in 2014. The burgeoning industry was value at 400 billion yuan (62 billion dollars) the same year, and is expected to double by 2019, making China the world’s third largest country for plastic surgeries after the US and Brazil, according to the China Association of Plastics and Aesthetics.

However, this doesn’t even cover all of the demand. More than 60,000 Chinese consumers travel to nearby South Korea every year for their surgeries, due to a lack of trust in Chinese hospitals.

The massive plastic surgery industry in South Korea makes it an easy option for Chinese looking for their own surgeries, inspired by K-pop stars. Plastic surgery is so common in South Korea, that nose jobs and double eyelid surgeries are sometimes given to students when they gradate from high school.

Photos of Miss Korea contestants in 2013, with many sharing the same features. / Photo via Soh News

Beauty standards between South Korea and China are very similar, and vastly different from what’s popular in the US and Brazil. One of the most popular procedures is the “double eyelid.” This procedure involves lifting up the eyelid in order to create the appearance of bigger eyes, something that’s common among people in the West. Slimming procedures are also popular, especially for the face and calf, both attempts to emulate Western features.

In the name of beauty

The emergence of “selfie culture” and social media is often attributed to the demand in plastic surgery. Many young patients see how their looks are “improved” by filters in apps and believe that surgery can make them look like that in real life.

And with the rise of Chinese live-streaming apps like Douyin, people – students in particular – have more ways to find celebrities and people they admire. To ordinary students, these famous online figures lead fun and interesting lives, but, most importantly, they all share the same look: big eyes, small noses, and pointed chins.

When students see that a relatively young and well-known person has improved their appearance through plastic surgery, they consider it too, and the competitive nature of social media has only fueled the increase in vying for the same look.

A Chinese Internet celebrity who admits to getting plastic surgery./Photo via Weibo

A unique part of this culture is Chinese plastic surgery apps like Gengmei and SoYoung. The apps help people “shop” for plastic surgery by giving users the option to view and compare different clinics and the price tags for different procedures. If plastic surgery is as easy as ordering food delivery, why not give it a try?

The screenshot of Gengmei./CGTN Screenshot

Equally as influential is personal confidence – or the lack thereof – that’s playing a huge role in the plastic surgery industry. For some, their appearances are everything – from helping you find a job or a new partner – and plastic surgery is often believed to be a way to “get ahead” in life.

The double eyelid, small nose and thick lips are so common in China and many joke that all patients must be going to the same doctor. Hospitals are quickly catching on to the trend and are advertising “plastic face” procedures, which only feeds into the belief that these are the universal features for beauty.

The dark side of the beauty

Though some people enter Korea with one face and leave with a different, more attractive one. However, some are not so lucky.

In a shocking case in China, a Chinese tourist, with the surname Jin, went to South Korea to undergo plastic surgery, and came back with a “twisted face.” Such tragedies have prompted many online sources and Chinese media to warn against the risks and possible complications that can occur from plastic surgery.

In order to make herself more beautiful, Jin Weikun, a Chinese woman currently undergoing training for her career in fashion design, decided to receive plastic surgery after partaking in a show called "Bucket List Series 2."/ Photo via Sina

Also, plastic surgery can easily go wrong if it is performed at an unlicensed "black clinic." Botched cosmetic surgery is common, and some of the victims spend the rest of their lives trying to correct it, which is torture for their body, mind and bank balance.

According to The Beijing News, there are over 500 genuine plastic surgery hospitals in Beijing, but the number of "black clinics" is over 1,500. This means most plastic surgeries end in failure, and some doctors claim that around 60 to 70 percent of their patients come to them to fix their botched operations.