Popular but painful: top 5 cosmetic surgery procedures Chinese tourists want
South Korea is one of the top medical tourism destinations for mainland Chinese tourists. Last year, 56,000 Chinese tourists visited for plastic surgery procedures, an increase of 45 per cent from 25,400 in 2013.
South Korea is one of the top medical tourism destinations for mainland Chinese tourists. Last year, 56,000 Chinese tourists visited for plastic surgery procedures, an increase of 45 per cent from 25,400 in 2013.
According to industry insiders, the most popular requests for Chinese patients are double eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, fat grafts or transplants, facelifts and double jaw surgery to give a sharper chin.
Often, these patients get all their surgeries done at once. “My mainland patients generally request the same surgeries as my Korean patients,” says Dr Cho Soo-young, a board-certified plastic surgeon and spokesperson for the Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons.
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However Chinese and Korean patients want a different style of features. “Chinese patients want more westernised features, like bigger eyes, taller noses. They want to look like Barbie dolls. Korean patients want more natural, Asian features these days,” says Cho.
“The Korean plastic surgery industry began [to develop] 40-50 years ago,” he says. “Plastic surgery started becoming popular in China only 10 years ago, so the trends for Chinese plastic surgery now are the same as in Korea about 50 years ago.”
Plastic surgery agent Lyan Chang agrees that the Chinese standard of beauty is different.
“Koreans want V-line faces and double jaw surgery [for smaller jaws], [whereas] Chinese clients want to look like Angelababy, with huge double eyelids and long eyelashes.” Angelababy is a Chinese model and actress.