Smoking hot: Chinese barber an internet hit giving perms with fire-heated tongs

Video footage has gone viral in China of an elderly barber using the traditional method of red-hot tongs to perm hair.

Wang Meimei, 74, from Jinshi in Sichuan province has used the technique - a popular method for curling hair before the 1980s - for decades, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported.

Wang charges only four yuan (58 US cents) for his perms, which can last as long as three months.

To create the curls, Wang takes his tongs from a fire, dips them in water and then roll them across people’s hair. In a video of his technique, the heated tongs can be heard making a hissing sound when they are in contact with hair, which then gives off wisps of smoke.

Wang’s inconspicuous hair salon does not even have a name, but there are no shortage of customers eager for Wang’s perms, which the old barber says requires a pair of deft hands to execute.

If he moves the tongs too slowly, he might burn a customer’s hair, but if the temperature is too low, it won’t create effective curls, the report said.