Clip, Snip, Trim

Andrew's super model before shot.

Getting your hair done in China is a sport. We're all familiar with gas stations being found on every corner in America but here in China you can find multiple hair salons on just one small street. They are everywhere. You might think that it's impossible for so many of them to stay in business and compete with each other. The combination of having a massive population and everyone feeling the need to constantly change their hair or simply get it blow dried by a professional allows for them to all stay in business.

You can even spot the fancy salons performing dance numbers on the sidewalks on occasion. I don't know if it's to attract business or merely to take a break and exercise but it's highly entertaining.

Aside from the fact that I just got my hair done a couple days before leaving America, I haven't been brave enough to take a seat and let them go to work on my luscious locks. Andrew on the other hand is not apprehensive at all and decided it was time for a trim. I was excited to actually step foot inside one of the many salons I'm always peeking into.

There's a salon right down the street from the school we work out that has a crowd of stylist always hanging out outside on the sidewalk during the slow times. There's one guy that had green hair for a while but now it looks like he's trying to get it to a shade of blonde. It's a pretty big deal for any Chinese person to get their hair to be a much lighter shade. Those guys are always staring at us and they seemed nice enough so we went there.

Andrew sat down to get his hair washed for what felt like 15 minutes. She was really scrubbing and going to town on scalp. His hair was pretty clean when he got there but I guess she just wanted to do a really thorough job. It was strange for him not to be over a sink but it still worked. 

A very stylish young man brought Andrew to his hair cutting station and just started cutting away. There was no attempt to ask him what length or how he wanted it cut. This man knew what he was doing and just got to work. He moved those scissors so fast. I was impressed.

After a little bit of hacking away with the scissors it was time for a little buzz around the edges. It was a simple hair cut and I'm sure he could have done it with his eyes closed but he did it with such finesse like he was born to cut hair. Although it's not a quintessential Chinese haircut. Andrew looked great afterward and we got to experience the salon from the inside instead of merely observing along the sidewalk.