Do we still look like how we looked when the passport photo was taken? Three supposedly Chinese women got into a spot of bother after travelling to South Korea to have plastic surgery. They were left stranded at an unnamed airport in the country as their faces changed after the surgery so much that they were difficult to be confirmed by the authorities.
In the picture, posted by onlooker Chinese TV presenter Jian Huahua, joked about the predicament of the situation saying even their mothers would be unable to recognise them.
According to Shanghaiist, the women were not allowed to take their return flight, and were instead held for questioning by the airport authorities. The incident took place during the Golden Week national holiday in China when as many as six million Chinese tourists travelled abroad this year.
South Korea is notorious for its enthusiastic, and often controversial, approach to plastic surgery – particularly major facial surgery, which aims to make clients look more “Western”. According to reports, about half of the women population below the age of 30 in Seoul had plastic surgery. The chi-chi Gangnam district, also known as the “Improvement Quarter” have most of the clinics.
More than 500,000 Chinese residents a year are said to make trips abroad for medical tourism. It is not known what proportion is for plastic surgery.
South Korea is a favourite destination for the Chinese tourists to travel during the Golden Week however, this year the numbers have seen to have dropped by 70%.
Image: Independent
