LANZHOU, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- At 2 a.m., Liao Minfang waved goodbye to her last customer. She rubbed her sore wrist, shut down the studio and called an end to a busy working day.
With the Spring Festival around the corner, beauty salons in many Chinese cities see thriving businesses as they work to meet people's increasing needs to look refreshed and beautiful.
One of the oldest traditions for Chinese New Year is to acquire new clothes, symbolizing the idea of change, new beginnings and ridding of the old. And nowadays, a new look is what many people are after.
Liao is a manicurist. In her 40-square-meter studio, more than 20 customers wait for their nails to be painted every day. Each one-hour service costs at least 150 yuan (about 24.8 U.S. dollars).
"Most of our clients are female. Since the coming year is the year of the Ox, red patterns with cow elements are among the most popular ones," Liao said.
Liao welcomes the peak of her business a month before the Spring Festival, with a 40 percent increase in order volume.
"I worked till 5 a.m. yesterday. When I came back with only three hours of sleep, I found our clients are already waiting outside the store," Liao said.
Liao and her colleagues have been working for two weeks straight, but there are still dozens of customers waiting to be served and reservations keep coming.
"I'm afraid to pick up my phone now. We can't deal with too many reservations," said Liao, adding that she even declined some regular guests because of her full schedule.
Across the street, Hao Xin's hair salon is also crowded with customers. Located in a community, most of his clients are nearby residents.
Hao and four other hairdressers have been busy for almost 10 days. According to him, the number of customers doubled recently, and he had to keep the door open for more than 14 hours per day.
Together with her mother, 31-year-old Wang Wei is having her hair permed. She bought new clothes a week ago and planned to get a new hairstyle.
"We welcome the new year with a brand-new look, and wish for a happy and lucky new start," said Wang. Three hours later, Wang and her mother spent 580 yuan in total on trendy hairstyles.
The thriving beauty industry before the Spring Festival has become a hit on the internet. On Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, the topic of "How to welcome the Chinese New Year with a beautiful look" has reached 220 million clicks, and more than 23,000 people participated in the discussion.
"For girls, the most popular beauty trends are hairstyling, manicures and eyelash extensions, which is called the 'three-piece suit' on the internet," said a netizen nicknamed Xiaohan.
Wang also shared her new look on her Weibo account. In the picture, her new wavy hair and freshly painted nails won a lot of appreciation.
"When I was a child, the most exciting thing of the year is to wear new clothes for the Spring Festival. Now, thanks to the vigorous beauty industry, we would also make time for hairdressing and beauty," said Wang.
The flourishing "beauty economy" seems reasonable in the eyes of Yang Suchang, a professor with the school of economics at Lanzhou University, who regard it as a sign of improving living standards and diversified ways of consumption.
As the evening wore on, there were still 10 customers waiting in Hao's shop. Seeing one client coming in and intending to lining up, Hao persuaded him to come another day.
When the curtain falls on the year, the savvy businessman can sigh with relief for his booming business. "Although I feel exhausted, I want to make more money to celebrate the coming new year," he said. Enditem
