Comments on: Where are all the women?

By: LB

LB — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:13:42 +0000

Hi, Ben.

30 RMB for a hair cut, you must be working in a middle class salon. I went back to Fuzhou almost every year. The place I went typically charges 60 – 89 RMB per cut w/o washing. The price range depends on the certificate level of the Master.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 19 May 2007 10:22:44 +0000

As a student years ago I had a haircut in Beijing for 80 fen. It was a staterun shop and I’m sure they silently cursed me for interrupting their newspaper browsing. I recall it took five minutes. I looked like I’d just been paroled. On the upside, the only threat to their hands was the newsprint from the Beijing Morning Post.

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:36:40 +0000

Dezza-
No worries on the perceived sarchasm…you do make a very good point afterall.

By: 欧扬

欧扬 — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:23:04 +0000

Ben did you let your fingernails grow in order to give a proper Chinese scalp massage? Regardless, I think you must be part of a foreign plot to raise the price of haircuts in China to decadent western prices, 30 Yuan is outrageous.

I once got a haircut for 5 yuan in Henan. They heated their own water before pouring it into a homemade dispenser mounted above the sink in which they shampooed my hair.

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Wed, 16 May 2007 04:34:53 +0000

@Matt: I also sometimes wondered about the plethora of male hairdressers in China- where I come from male hairdressers would be considered more suited to your hometown than mine. These days, though, I’ve settled on one woman to cut my hair- my wife.

@Ben: Sorry, mate, but that means you won’t be getting my custom, even when you’ve become a master barber.

By: dezza

dezza — Wed, 16 May 2007 02:13:41 +0000

cool ben. i reread my question and hope you didn’t find it to be sarcastic.:)

thanks for clarifying. it sounds like you’re enjoying your time there..keep up the great work!

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:36:24 +0000

Jenn-
Go ahead and site away. Glad you found the article useful.

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:35:18 +0000

Dezza-
You make a good point about the names. I guess out of habbit I did not want to use the real names, but I thought the posts were quite lacking without photos. There really isn’t anything too personal that I’m writing about, and if somebody really wanted to find out who my coworkers were they probably could. But for the sake of continuity, I’m going to go with the pseudonyms. Glad to know people are paying attention though.

By: Matt Schiavenza

Matt Schiavenza — Tue, 15 May 2007 08:05:26 +0000

Fascinating- I’ve always wondered why there were so few women barbers in China, myself. I for some reason (perhaps due to latent sexism, who knows) strongly prefer to have my hair tended to by women, so it can be a challenge finding a place with a lady actually styling hair as opposed to fetching glasses of hot water.

By: dezza

dezza — Tue, 15 May 2007 04:42:28 +0000

i’m wondering why you went to great lengths to conceal your co-worker/boss’ names but then go on to publish their photos?