Profile
Keep trim with a cut above the rest
By Shen Jingting (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-02 14:23
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Well-coiffed clients follow barber, 73
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 A middle-aged woman gets a cut from sought-after hairdresser Wu Yongliang (right) at Silian Hairdressing and Beauty Center in Beijing.
Wang Jing/ China Daily
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It was 10 am on a Tuesday morning. Inviting steam thawed frozen customers entering Beijing's Silian Hairdressing and Beauty Center in Wangfujing. The first floor was already full of female customers, all in their 50s or 60s with their wet hair wrapped in brown towels.
Some expected to graced by the hands of Wu Yongliang, a legendary hairdresser in high demand in Silian, which was founded in 1956.
The 73-year-old man swiftly worked his scissors in the second floor VIP room, with two more customers anxiously waiting.
Wu has been working here since the salon's establishment. He was recently been named traditional technical master in hairdressing by local authorities.
Looking back on his early days, Wu remembers his very first mistake as a hairdresser and barber.
"The first time I shaved a bearded man, I left seven or eight bleeding scratches on that man's face," Wu told METRO. "It really scared me."
But Wu persisted. After three years of training, he became the youngest barber at the Beijing's Silian. He grew familiar with all the varied hairstyles of women and quickly learned how to make curls-the most advanced skill back in the 1960s.
In the 1980s, Wu became renowned for a unique hairdressing skill that he developed, using a hairdryer in one hand and a rolling brush in the other. The hairstyle he developed was stylish, luscious and difficult to be ruined. Even until now, many say, not every hair stylist in the industry can master this skill.
Women, as they still do now, went to Silian in Wu's early days and requested his expertise.
"They recognized my work. Besides, because I was a young and a tall guy then, they preferred to choose me," Wu said, laughing as he sipped a cup of tea during a short break. With his deep-set eyes and charming smile, it's not hard to imagine the elderly stylist as a good-looking young man.
A female customer once even asked for a photo of a young Wu and told him that "she wanted a husband like me," he said.
Wu recalled that she later returned the photo after failing to find a man that met the lofty standards that he set.
There is a long list of famous female customers among Wu's client list. Fu Zhifang, wife of Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang, once had a weekly appointment with Wu.
"When I first saw her, I knew she was Mr Mei's wife, because she arrived in a black Mercedes-Benz. In the entire city, only Mr Mei owned one," Wu said.
At the time, Silian charged 1.2 yuan a person, twice as expensive as common shops. Fu never washed her hair at her house and preferred that Wu wash it every week until the "cultural revolution" broke out in 1966.
Tian Hua, Xie Fang and other female movie stars of the 1980s were among Wu's customers.
"My customers are all getting old now. The youngest is almost 60 years old and the oldest has surpassed 90 years old," Wu told METRO. "They rarely change stylists. Some of them have followed me for more than 50 years."
Sheng Yu, a 65-year-old woman, said she became Wu's client when she was 30.
"Wu has an outstanding skill and he is nice to everyone, whether you are ordinary or famous. What really makes me concerned is that, if master Wu retires, where will I go to do my hair?" Sheng asked.
But the stylist hasn't planned his retirement. "I enjoy making people happy. For the elderly, a cheerful hairstyle is really important. It may make you look 10 years younger," Wu said.
