Long gone are the days when on roadsides all over the city, white-coated people with chairs, mirrors, bowls of water and scissors cut hair for as little as 5 mao (US 6 cents).

Less prominent are those small streetside barber shops that are usually marked with a spinning red, white and blue barbers' pole and the characters Lifa Dian, literally meaning hair repair shop. Of course, you will never worry about the cost for a repair for your hair.

The shops are not gone - the barbers' lights are still there and the hairdressers haven't left. They have just been renamed, on most occasions, after an expansion and a facelift.

They are Lifa Dian no more, but rather beauty and hair-styling salons that have extended their services from simple haircuts and shampooing to include treatment, styling, scalp treatment and hair planting.

Some of them are also offering services in makeup, manicure, fitness training and body shaping.

The hairstyling industry has evolved into the beauty and hairdressing industry that has been the fastest growing service sector in China in recent years, according to Yan Xiuzhen, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hairstylists and Beauticians.

However, since first being developed in the early 1980s, China's hairdressing sector is still taking baby steps.

The sidewalk barber shops haven't gone extinct. And with the opening of the market following China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), there has been an influx of beauty-related enterprises from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and some foreign countries.

In short, the industry is hot.

Beijing Weekend takes a sample look at the dynamic hairdressing scene in Beijing as follows:

Disappearing skill

Much has changed since the 1980s, with a massive influx of foreign hairstyles and hair treatment products like conditioner and gel.However, no alterations of this nature goes on in this little barber shop.

Kan Ziliang is still shaving his client's hair off with the same razor he used in 1936 when he worked as an apprentice, in the same way he served his first client 67 years ago. No shampoo, no blowdryers and totally free of electricity and running water.

There is little to discuss in your quest for healthy hair and a gratified reflection in the mirror. The unspoken consensus is that you are here for a bald head or a bancun, or inch-long hairstyle.

So the process goes along with some casual talk as most clients are his old patrons. They are coming here for Kan's skill with straight razors.

Shaving a head is not as easy as you might think. In fact, this is the most difficult hairstyle for a barber. In the past, a barber's skill was judged by his ability to finish a bald head quick and well.

Professional Bancun

Services: Trimming hair, beards and eybrows, cleaning ears and babies' first shave when they are about a month old

Price: 15 yuan (US$1.80) for a haircut, 50 yuan (US$6) for a baby's first shave, tips welcomed

Staff: Kan Ziliang, an 86-year-old retired barber who has been barbering since 1936

Cosmetics: A bar of soap that helps to rinse hair

Promotion: None.

Location: At Kan's house inside a small hutong in the Longfusi Pedestrian Street in Dongsi, Chaoyang District

Floor space: 5 square metres

Joint ventures

Foreign beauty-related enterprises that have made inroads into the mainland market are usually large, professional and upmarket operations. Aimed at mid-to-high income earners with a monthly income of over 4,000 yuan (US$480), foreign-run beauty salons are quite successful in convincing their potential clients that their prices are not as high as they imagine.

Their massive influx has helped improve professional standards and set trends for China's beauty business.

Casting Hairdressing & Beauty

Services: trims, colouring, bleaching, streaks, styling

Price: 30 yuan (US$3.60) for a haircut, 300 to 1,000 yuan (US$36-120) for colour, streak and style services

Staff: Four hairstylists, five assistants and two receptionist

Cosmetics: Top-end products include L'Oreal from France, which costs between 300 yuan and 1,000 yuan (US$36-120) per treatment using these products. There are also mid-range products, mostly joint-venture or leading local brands.

Promotion: Purchases over 500 yuan (US$60) entitles the client to a membership of the salon, enjoying 20 per cent off for each treatment

Location: In a shopfront in a prestious building in Maliandao Tea Street in Xuanwu District

Floor space: More than 200 square metres

Eric's Hairdressing & Beauty Salon

Hours: 9 am to 9 pm

Location: 1F Kerry Centre Hotel

Tel: 6473-0900

Mentor

Hours: 9:30 am to 9:30 pm

Location: 11 Dongsi Nandajie, Dongcheng District

Tel: 6559-8568