Lifelong skill brings joy

Editor's Note: To highlight the role of women in Chinese society, China Daily is publishing a series of stories detailing their work and achievements in different parts of the country.

Having a skill to earn a living is a necessity, according to Wang Yan, who started learning to cut hair at age 18.

The native of Longxi county in Dingxi city, Gansu province, recalls how she dropped out of junior high school because her scores failed to meet the requirements for high school entry.

That resulted in her mother giving her two choices: to either learn to work as a dressmaker or as a hairdresser. Wang thought dressmaking was untrendy, so she opted for a career in hairdressing.

Having expended a huge amount of energy to master her trade, the 45-year-old has been working in the field for more than 20 years.

She opened her first mom-and-pop hair salon in the southern suburbs of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, in 1997, and remembers her sense of disappointment when no customers showed up in the first three days.

To attract customers, Wang posted an ad on the salon's door, offering free haircuts. The notice attracted a couple of clients, so four days later, they brought some friends, who paid her to cut their hair.

In the decade that followed, the salon became the most flourishing business on the street, so Wang opened a second establishment on the east side of the city in 2016.

Female hairstylists often find it hard to gain recognition, so it took Wang quite a few years to achieve her goal.

"At first, it was all about washing customers' hair," said Wang, recalling her early days working as an assistant under the guidance of an experienced female stylist.

"Learning to shave the male customers' beards was one of the required skills," she said.

Her first experience of cutting hair came accidentally, when a member of a local work team visited the salon where Wang was working as an assistant.

"My master and senior sister apprentices were busy when the man came to our salon. The worker, who had long, coarse hair, wanted a cut as soon as possible, so he asked me if I was available," she recalled.

The number of female hairstylists in China is still small, and it fluctuates as some leave to get married or have babies.

Most of Wang's female apprentices left her salon eventually, either to get married or to work in other fields.

Wang believes that learning a skill to support herself and her family is something to be proud of, and she said she never considered just being a wife and mother. She also believes in hard work, so she returned to work just 42 days after giving birth to her oldest son, now 23, in 1999.

She has two sons, and the older boy wants to become a hairdresser.

Wang seldom complains about the difficulties and setbacks she has faced in her professional life, and she often brings precious gifts for her family when she returns to her hometown.

Her hard-earned wealth benefits her and her relatives. In 2007, she bought her family's first apartment in Lanzhou, and has bought two more in recent years.

Hairdressing is an industry that requires up-to-date information and the skills need to be updated frequently. Wang said she still takes hairdressing lessons every three months to ensure that she isn't left behind in the ever-changing sector.

"I have brought value to my life through my job, and even though it's sometimes hard work, I have persisted in cutting hair and designing new styles for my customers," she said.