NANJING, June 13, 2002 — Today I received my third haircut in China—one in 1986, another in 2001, and a third today. The small barbershop, pictured above, exemplifies private enterprise. It serves both men and women.

A haircut, especially for a westerner, is a grand activity, probably in part because the barbers are used to cutting straight, black hair, not curly gray hair, and so delight in a new challenge.

The cutting process begins with a most thorough head scrubbing by a female attendant and takes about twenty minutes. The elaborate rinsing process depicted here takes another ten minutes. I'm sure I lost irreplaceable hair in this extreme manipulation. Above the lady attendant we see a gallery of the rogues who are on hand to scrub incoming patrons.