The Haircut

I got my first haircut in China the other day.  I had been a little wary of getting my haircut in China primarily because of the language barrier; Chinese dudes often have strange haircuts and I wouldn’t really know how to explain that I just want normal hair.  But my hair started to get out of control so I asked May to write a note for me in Chinese that I could take to a barber. 

She wrote (paraphrasing) : Dear Barber,

Please help my foreign friend.  He is new in China and wants a haircut.  He wants it short and tidy.

Thank you.

I thanked her for the note and explained to her that she didn’t need to tell them I was foreign, they should be able to work that bit out on their own, but she insisted that “in China” that is the note should read.

Sidenote, May loves to say “in China.”  It’s very funny.  I’ve told her that I know we are in China, and that many of the things that she says happen “in China” also happen in just about every other part of the world, but she still says it.  Hard to describe the funniness here but it really is hilarious.  For example, “In China we often go to the movies.”  This kind of thing.

Anyway, I went to the haircutter down by my house the next day. I went right as they opened.  The place is a chain salon and they are fairly large, probably had around 30 employees working. The employees were all lined up in rows standing at attention listening to the boss give some sort of speech as I walked in.  Many businesses do this “in China.”  The men were all wearing suits and the women were wearing short skirts with a suit jacket.  They looked like flight attendants.  They also were all wearing “stars” on their shoulders like they were in the military or something. 

I walked in, showed the note to an employee and asked how much.  He said 40RMB.  About 7 bucks. Cool no problem I thought, cheaper than a haircut back home.  He then lead me to a chair where I figured I’d have my haircut.  Not so fast.  One of the pretty Chinese flight attendants came around (2 stars) and began massaging my neck and shoulders.  This lasted around 5 minutes and felt great.  She then started wetting my scalp and massaging it, along with rubbing in various shampoos and oils and who knows what else.  It felt amazing and lasted another 5-10 minutes.  I then got a good rinse down and was lead to a different location.  A man with a ton of hair, perfectly coiffed, a holster (yes a holster) full of tools, and 3 stars on his shoulders approached me and began eyeing my head from various angles.  He then unholstered his tools and began crafting his masterwork on my head.  With every snip of the scissors his hair bounced and bobbed but never lost form.  His eyes never wavered from my head as he snip snipped for a solid 30 minutes.  He then busted out the straight razor and lined up the hair around my ears, sideburns and neck.  As he finished it was clear that he was very satisfied with his work as he admired my newly shorn hair. 

As soon as he was done a different, and even prettier flight attendant (3 stars) lead me back to the hair washing area.  She massaged my head once more as she rinsed all the hair from my head and neck.  She even used her fingers to gently massage my ears and remove the hairs from inside their crevices.  It was perfect in just about everyway. 

After she was done I was lead back to the haircutter dude who was waiting with a blow dryer and a comb.  He dried my hair and combed it intently until no hair was out of place.  Only when it was perfect did he allow me to leave and pay the 40 RMB that I owed the place. 

It was easily the best haircut experience I’ve ever had. The massage, the rinsing, the haircutting, etc., all came together to create a really great experience that is not typical at the haircutteries I go to back home.  And the price really can’t be beat. The haircut itself is mostly pretty good, though it could have been blended a little better on the sides.  I’m not complaining though.  Maybe next time I’ll request one of the 4 star generals I saw, see if it makes a difference.