NOT ONE LESS

With her short hair dyed bright purple, 15-year-old Du Fangmei is easy to spot in her class. She practiced giving a haircut to a mannequin head as she talked to Beijing Review in her classroom. “My hair was dyed by the hairdressing teacher last month,” she said in standard Chinese. “I like it a lot.”

With her in the classroom are some of her classmates, all teenagers, and hairdressing teacher Duan Zhiwen, whom the students prefer to call (master) rather than teacher to show their respect. The students all have stylish hairstyles, either created by their or by each other. A boy with a buzz cut said he cut his hair by himself with the help