Under shady trees, along the alleys in some parts of Beijing, you will find the neighbourhood barber, complete with the tools of his trade: a simple chair, a box for his clippers and a bucket of water. The click-click of the manual trimmer blends with the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze.
His clients enjoy the no-frills service, rounded off with a hearty compliment: 'Now you look 10 years younger!' The charge - a mere three yuan - is easy on the wallet.
Mr Hou is not a native of the city, but he has been an itinerant barber here for more than 10 years. The work suits him just fine, enjoying, as he does, the freedom of not being tied to one place. His clients are not demanding. Most ask for just a crew cut or a shaved head. Once, on a house call, he had to shave a dead man - an experience he did not particularly enjoy.
He keeps his clients entertained with story-telling, so they will return again and again. Most of his stories are true, he claims, adding with a chuckle that some are not for polite company.
Soon, our conversation turns to the preferred hair styles of Chinese leaders. Mr Hou liked Mao Zedong's haircut, which, he said, fit his square face. '[It was] one of a kind. No one ever tries to copy that.' He is not so keen about the uniformly slick look of the current leaders. 'They look like actors on stage; not natural,' he said.
He volunteered a story about Premier Wen Jiabao's hair colour, which he says he heard from a client whose relative worked in the State Council.