Editor's words: God created Adam. Is he perfect? To Michelangelo may be he is, but to Adam himself may be not.
 

"It is one of my dream and it's worth the pain."

Jin in her dancing solo in Paris,Jun 2005.

     
    Jin Xing(Left) attends the inaugural ceremony as one of the judges in a dancing show held by SMG,Shanghai.
  • Jin Xing and her German husband now live in Shanghai with their three children.

Living in China for a while, you will certainly find that today' s Chinese seem to adopt a more tolerant attitude towards “plastic surgery". This is no big deal since changing of attitude happens to every society, let alone in a country where people centuries ago started setting standards for beauty and formed a tradition of“willing” to suffer for it.

 

In the name of “better looks”, nothing is too hard to be justified.

 

But how far one can go in the pursuit of beauty not only relies on  technology but also on their determination and courage. Famous Chinese dancer Jin xing received transsexual surgery in 1995 which enabled him to officially become a “She”. It is painful and risky but after all these years she thinks it is worth the pain.

 

Some people consider Jin as a pioneer in this revolution of “body re-engineering, but to Jin, he did this for himself not for anybody else. Jin started practicing dancing as a teenage and received formal dancing education in the United States in 1989.

 

Jin received several international awards in America and held her dancing solo in many places of the world. At the age of 16, Jin was already quite sure that he meant to be a girl not a boy , however, Jin told himself it's still not the right time because without any achievement in his career, people would just laugh at him and take his dream for granted.

 

Jin Xing's story may be a bit extreme. For most of these beauty lovers, sex change is certainly not on their agenda. Getting a boob job or eyelid crease could be good enough.

 

This may sound easy for you but how risky these operations might be is highly determined by the hands of practitioners.

According to the China Quality Daily, an official consumer protection newspaper, in China alone, over 200,000 lawsuits were filed in the past decade against cosmetic surgery practitioners. Many Chinese went to a plastic surgery without thinking aobut the consequences which could be diastrous and life threatening.

 
Facilities for plastic surgeries displayed
  Exhibitor Monique Gaillot holds a breast implant in an exhibition hall at the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons annual conference in London September 27, 2007

Surgical tools for breast augmentation are displayed .

    A Korean man holds a picture shows his looks before his plastic surgery.
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A newspaper in China published an estimated price list (middle column)of having plastic surgery in Korean.

"Cosmetic Surgery Street" in Korea

In Korea, surgeons estimate that at least one in 10 adults have received some form of surgical upgrade. This is not difficult to explain since obsession over beauty looks has been deeply rooted in the nation's culture.

A recent survey conducted by a Korean agency reveals that as high as 94% respondents believe that “physical appearance affects interview results”.

Most Koreans choose to receive cosmetic surgeries during the Nine days Mid-Autumn holidays and appointments need to be made in four weeks advance during the high season.

It's now no longer a secret that many Korean TV stars have made some changes over certain parts of their body before or after they turned famous. Consider exposures to such intensive “public education”, no wonder a national frenzy over cosmetic surgery takes over.

Like the hit brought by Korean soap operas, the hit over “artificial beauty” spreads through Asia. Years ago the so-called “Plastic Surgery Street” in Seoul –an avenue with over 400 plastic surgery clinics-is merely a sight-seeing spot for tourists. But now for many, it is a must go because it is their destination.

Tour companies in many Asian countries like Japan and China offer fight & hotel packages for customers heading to Korea with the purpose of getting a nose job or other kinds of plastic surgery.

Compared to costs of getting a similar operation in Western countries like The US and Canada, Korea definitely has an edge, let alone the convenience associated with shorter travel distance and less likely of being casting in to totally western faces.