29-year-old man Su Jianhua suffers from an extremely rare skin condition called cutis laxa (also dermatolysis or elastolysis) which causes the skin to hang loosely in folds and become extremely wrinkled. He met the press for the first time on Wednesday after a successful cosmetic surgery procedure at a Hangzhou hospital. According to Chinese media reports, less than 10 cases of cutis laxa have been confirmed worldwide in the last 20 years. more ›

Here is a news story that seems like it could be straight out of Hollywood. A former SuperGirl contestant from Chengdu has just died from plastic surgery complications. 24 year old Wang Bei, who participated but did not win the popular talent competition in 2005, went under the knife to shave down her jawbones at a plastic surgery hospital in Wuhan. On November 15, Wang and her mother both went in for cosmetic enhancements, Wang Bei going in first. However, complications arose when the doctor punctured a blood vessel. Although she was transferred to another hospital, it was too late to save her. more ›

We all know that many things are on the rise in China; the economy, the population, foreign TV series, and if the last few days are anything to go by, the temperature! Something else on the rise, however, is... wait for it, ‘Hymenorrhaphy’. The surgical reconstruction of the hymen. more ›

We've all known for a while that plastic surgery has gotten extremely popular in China, but who knew this country'd rise that quickly in the ranks of the world's top regions for cosmetic procedures? In a recent survey issued by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, China ranked No. 2 for most nip-tucked, right behind the United States. According to ISAPS' Global Survey, the top five nations are the U.S., China, Brazil, India and Mexico. more ›

Jessica Alba has spoken out against the Shanghainese girl who was getting free plastic surgery to look like her. The Maxim Hot 100 list frequenter said she was distressed that Xiaoqing was planning to win her Alba-obsessed ex-boyfriend back by undergoing extensive nips and tucks. "I think you should never have to change yourself like that," said Alba, who was once voted the Sexiest Woman in the World (by FHM). "If somebody loves you, they'll love you no matter what." more ›

• Asia Uncut is filming again this Thursday (Jan 14), and this time the megastar guest is Donnie Yen (of Ip Man and Bodyguards and Assassins fame). If you want to be a part of the audience, email tickets (at) asiauncut (dot) com.
• While it's not IMAX exactly, Shanghai's Jinyi International Cinema is sporting a pretty sweet Sony-4K digital 3-D screen that will open next month. [Cityweekend]
• This month, Interkom Youth and Community Center Shanghai is presenting an "Arts Charity Extravaganza" called ACE 2010... and it's run entirely by students! [Shanghai Talk]

Malcolm Moore is the Shanghai correspondent for the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph newspaper. He has been in the city for around 18 months and now writes a new online diary of his (and the rest of the Telegraph staff's) reporting adventures here. Today he writes about the top seven pieces of juicy gossip he has yet to be able to use... until now. more ›

• Gosh they're getting them while they're young - elementary school students in Shaoxing now have a chance to join the Chengguan Youth Special Forces and enact justice on street vendors. [Chinasmack]
• Daniel Gross, eat your heart out. Lawrence L. Allen, who worked for both Hershey and Nestlé in China, talks about the chocolate market's rise in China. [Danwei]
• Perhaps they misinterpreted what the public meant when they said they wanted officials with a more "beautiful image"; nearly one-fourth of one plastic surgeon's clients are male officials and their wives. [China.org.cn]

Oh Yu Zhenhuan (于震环), say it ain't so! China's hairiest man is allegedly going to go through plastic surgery to remove most of his hair after a stinging audition for a role as the Monkey King didn't work out in his favor, says Plastic Surgery Channel. more ›

Oh Sharon Stone. The actress once again apologized for her "bad karma" comments, which got her dropped last year from her lucrative China Dior contract. "I'm sorry that my comments caused pain to a nation and a people. I hope my apology will be accepted and finally fully understood," she said. She loves China, she told Hong Kong Prestige. She loves its hospitality and Chinese culture as a whole. But you know what's especially great about China? It's got a fine philosophy on aging, which is about "really accepting yourself and loving your age." China's great because it embraced this concept, she said, adding "it's not the Botox capital of the world." Well true in that most of the population can't really afford Botox. Those that can... well, let's just say Sharon Stone ought to read up on the latest plastic surgery news over here. Source: SCMP more ›

Oh rich ladies - we love hearing about your problems! Xinhua reports that over 20 Jiangsu taitais were stopped at Hongqiao International Airport's customs a few days ago after arriving from South Korea. The reason: all of them had gone to the peninsula to get plastic surgery and had come back so unrecognizable that customs officers couldn't use their existing passport pictures to place them. more ›

• China on Iran (Not the Party Line): Letter from China [The New Yorker] "The most interesting Chinese reaction to the events in Iran is never going to be found in the Chinese newspapers. (The state-run press is, not surprisingly, adhering to the principle that all politics is local, so it has been consistently arguing against any disruption of the prevailing political order. On Tuesday, that meant, for instance: “Iranian Exile Groups Want to Use the Chaos to Overturn the Ruling Government.”)"
• Why size is everything in China [FT] "Big eyes, big noses, big breasts and now humungous Hummers - China seems to be indulging an obsession with size, just when the rest of the world is learning the virtues of moderation. In Shanghai, for example, business is booming on eyelifts, noselifts, chestlifts and other surgery aimed at enlarging classically Asian narrow eyes, flat noses and unobtrusive mammary glands. At the Shanghai Time Plastic Surgery Hospital, Dr Liao Yuhua says business is up 40 per cent since the end of last year - not despite the global economic crisis, but because of it."
• Plywood Infernal [Shanghai Scrap] "I was more than happy when told that - as part of something else I was doing - I would have the opportunity to visit a very large plywood factory in a northern Chinese city that manufactures several types of wood products (for various reasons I won’t go into now, I can’t and won’t reveal the name or location of this factory). Over the years, I’ve visited facilities where safety and environmental conditions were abominable; but I can say, I’ve never left any of them feeling as physically and emotionally upended as I felt after exiting this plywood plant."

We guess with plastic surgery gaining popularity in the country, lawsuits from aesthetic hopefuls wouldn't be long coming. Now, according to China Daily, a Beijing woman has sued a beauty salon owner because the products she brought didn't make her look younger. Ms. Zheng had spent 200,000RMB on “Sinomos” cosmetic injections, which alleged that they could produce a youthful appearance that would make her look “20 years younger.” When it didn't work, she sued the company for double the price. more ›

The plastic surgery industry, though a victim of the recession in the West, has experienced an unexpected and starting rise as the job market got worse in China. According to the LA Times: more ›

A Beijing clinic has apparently skipped all the controversy surrounding using stem cells and jumped right to marketing it as a way to rejuvenate your face. more ›

More people than ever are getting plastic surgery in Shanghai, according to Channel News Asia. One beauty enhancing outlet, Shanghai Time Plastic Surgery Hospital, reported that it had seen an increase in patients by 45% year-on-year. The most frequently requested procedures include rhinoplasty, face reshaping, breast augmentation and - that favorite of Asia - double eyelid surgery. Men are also increasingly becoming surgery regulars, usually asking for “hair and mustache implants.” more ›

According to China Daily, more and more middle and high school students are taking advantage of the summer holidays to make the kind of changes that will impress their peers come fall. But it isn’t a summer class or even a new workout routine they are adopting — it’s cosmetic surgery. more ›