She asked me what I did for a living. When I told her I was a writer, she frowned and said a new nose could help me find a better job.

“Your nose is too flat. A well-shaped nose commands respect,” said the consultant. “Businessmen come in to get more prominent noses. And ladies have better chances in both career and love after their operation.”

I was in one of the biggest cosmetic surgery hospitals in China, located in the southern city of Shenzhen, where over half the population is made up of migrants from other parts of the country. Most of them are here for factory or construction work, but many long for better prospects.

A nose job costs around $2,900 at this hospital, which is a bargain compared to the average cost of rhinoplasty in the US of $4,500, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. But when the average yearly income for urban residents in China is just $7,000 and the average monthly pay for a migrant worker a measly $40, a nose job would take years for most people to save up for.

Yet cosmetic surgery is an investment more and more Chinese women from all rungs of society are splashing out on, according to new research from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. And it’s not all about vanity. Those who go under the knife usually believe surgery would improve all aspects of their lives.

“The dramatic economic, cultural and political changes in China have produced immense anxiety experienced by women, which stimulates the belief that beauty is capital,” said anthropologist Wen Hua, author of the recently published book, Buying Beauty: Cosmetic Surgery in China.

The idea that beauty is capital “epitomizes the idea that good looks are the key to increased opportunities for social and career success,” she said. “Cosmetic surgery has become a form of consumer choice; it reflects in microcosm the transition of China from communism to consumerism with its own Chinese characteristics.”

Wen’s research focused on field studies in Beijing, interviews with 58 women from age 16 to 55 and analysis of Chinese media reports. She found that cosmetic surgery is less taboo in China than in North America, and is particularly popular among women struggling to find work.

Between 1993 and 2001, 43 million urban employees were laid off, amounting to a quarter of China’s total urban labor force. Women were often the first to be laid off and the last to be hired back, and when applying for jobs they encountered much more discrimination than men, said Wen.

A 2003 review of job advertisements found that among positions open to women, nearly 90 percent were open only to those younger than 30 years old. Youth is particularly cherished in a country where women who remain unmarried past the age of 27 are labelled “leftover women” by the government. Women who don’t meet minimum height requirements (usually set at 1.58 meters) are also often denied government jobs.

But these obstacles have not kept women from aiming high. A 2011 study by the Centre for World-Life Policy found that 76 percent of women in China aspire to top jobs, compared with 52 percent in the United States.

Ambitious women who turn to cosmetic surgery to gain an edge in the job market fuel a 2.5 billion a year industry in China that has grown at a pace of 20 percent per year, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. China is now the third largest market for cosmetic surgery in the world, after the US and Brazil, although when population is taken into account cosmetic surgery may be most common in South Korea.

In China, the practice has become so socially accepted that beauty pageants have been held especially for “artificial beauties” and vocational schools for flight attendants routinely herd students into cosmetic surgery hospitals, said Wen.

Outside the hospital in Shenzhen, I met a woman surnamed Liu from a smaller city in Guangdong Province, who had also come from a consultation. She had glossy hair, a pointed nose and a slim figure. She showed off her long legs in a mini-skirt and platform heels.

“I’m thinking of getting herbal weight loss injections,” she told me. “Injections are safer and cheaper than liposuction.”

In the past year, Liu, a 28-year-old administrative assistant at a financial company, had already undergone double-eyelid surgery and rhinoplasty at the hospital, which offers a mind-boggling range of procedures including some adapted from traditional Chinese medicinal practices. When I asked Liu why she chose to get cosmetic surgery, she said: “It’s just like applying makeup; everybody wants to enhance their beauty. A woman especially needs to work to maintain her appearance as she gets older.”

A daughter of struggling shopkeepers, Liu said she was barely able to finish secondary school and was lucky to find decently paid work. “I wouldn’t have been hired if I had been an ugly duckling,” she said. Liu is now worried she will lose her job once she gets older. She has taken evening classes in business management, but believes an attractive appearance is just as important as education.

Liu is aware of the horror stories of botched surgeries. Around the world, risky operations such as “leg-stretching” surgery are rarely used for cosmetic purposes but such operations are popular in China. In efforts to meet height requirements for jobs, men and women have paid tens of thousands of yuan to have their bones broken so that doctors could insert steel pins under the knees and above the ankles, but complications have left dozens of people crippled for life. China’s Ministry of Health has banned some risky cosmetic surgeries, but most private clinics for cosmetic surgery are widely unregulated.

Out of curiosity, I decided to visit a private clinic in Shenzhen. After an hour of walking in circles, I found the clinic on the 18th floor of a rundown residential building with drunk or drugged men sprawled in the hallways. A teenage boy greeted me at the door, and sat me down for the consultation at a flimsy table while his father watched a soap opera a few feet away in the living room. The clinic doubled as their living quarters.

I inquired about liposuction treatments, but the boy mumbled something about the doctor being unavailable and to my horror, suggested that I get human placenta injections instead, vaguely explaining that placenta treatments are “good for women。” The injections cost about $1,630 per pack of five syringes and must be self-administered. I declined the offer and bolted out of the clinic.

“Cosmetic surgery is a choice and you have to make the best decisions for yourself and your family,” said Liu. “That’s what people are doing all over China today.”

她先是問我是干哪行的。當知道我是個作家后，她皺了皺眉頭說整下鼻子就能幫我找份更好的工作。

“你的鼻子太扁了。漂亮的鼻子會讓人‘頓生敬意’。”整容顧問說，“老板們來這里都是為了整個好看的鼻子。整容后的女人會事業(yè)愛情雙豐收。”

這是我在深圳一家全國最大的整形醫(yī)院采訪時的內(nèi)容。來這家醫(yī)院整容的人大[微博]半都是外地人。他們大部分人都在深圳的工廠或建筑公司上班，但很多人都希望生活能過得更好些。

(在這家醫(yī)院)做一次隆鼻手術(shù)的價格是2900美元。對比美國整形協(xié)會的數(shù)據(jù)—均價4500美元，這個價格算是便宜的了。但當了解到中國城鎮(zhèn)居民的年均收入只有7000美元，而外來打工者的月薪也只有可憐的40美元時，對大部分打工者來說，要想做一次隆鼻手術(shù)他們得攢上好幾年的時間。

然而，中國香港大學[微博]的最新研究顯示，中國花錢整容的女性越來越多，各行各業(yè)的都有。她們并不一定是為了虛榮，且她們通常認為整容將全面改善她們的生活。

最近中國出版了一本書叫《買來的美麗：在中國整容》，該書的作者兼人類學家文華(音譯)談到：“中國在經(jīng)濟、文化和政治上經(jīng)歷了巨大的變革，這令中國的女性們產(chǎn)生了極大的焦慮情緒，從而促使她們認為漂亮就是資本。”

“好的相貌對改善人際關(guān)系和職業(yè)晉升都至關(guān)重要，這也折射出‘漂亮就是資本’的思想。“她還說道，“整容已變成了消費者的一個選擇，這從微觀上反映出中國正在由共產(chǎn)主義社會過渡到中國特色的消費主義社會。”

文華的研究內(nèi)容主要包括在北京地區(qū)進行實地調(diào)查，對58名年齡從16至55歲不等的女性進行采訪，以及對媒體的報道進行分析。她發(fā)現(xiàn)，相對于北美地區(qū)，整容在中國的忌諱要少些，而且在那些急于找工作的女性中整容尤為盛行。

1993年至2001年間，中國約有4300萬城鎮(zhèn)居民下崗，這一數(shù)字相當于中國城鎮(zhèn)勞動力人數(shù)總和的1/4。文華表示，最先解雇的是女員工，最后復工的也是女員工，相比男人來說，女人在找工作時遭受的歧視要多得多。

對2003年的招聘廣告回顧后發(fā)現(xiàn)，在這些面向女性的職位中，幾乎90%的職位都要求應(yīng)聘者在30歲以下。在中國，年輕人會受到百般照顧，而女性在27歲之后還沒結(jié)婚的話，政府就會給其貼上“剩女”的標簽。女性身高若不足最低身高要求(通常是1.58米)，政府部門也通常不予錄用。

盡管存在各種限制，但也不能阻止她們的遠大追求。2011年，世界生活政策中心曾進行過一項調(diào)查，結(jié)果顯示76%的中國女人渴望高級職位，而在美國這一比例是52%。

據(jù)新華社報道，事業(yè)型的女人會將整容當作是工作中的一種優(yōu)勢，中國的整容行業(yè)會因她們而產(chǎn)生每年25億美元的收益，且年均增長達20%。目前，中國是世界第三大整容市場，僅次于美國和巴西。而就整容的人數(shù)來看，韓國則是整容最流行的國家。

文華說道：“在中國，整容已經(jīng)相當普遍 ，到處都有專門甄選“人造美女”的選美比賽。 有些培養(yǎng)空姐的職業(yè)學校甚至還會定期組織學生去醫(yī)院整容。”

在這家深圳的整容醫(yī)院外面，我遇見了一位廣東某個小縣城來的劉女士，她也是來這里整容的。頭發(fā)锃亮，鼻子尖尖的她身材很好，穿的迷你裙很配她的長腿，腳上穿著一雙平跟鞋。

她說：“我想用藥物注射來減肥，藥物注射要比抽脂手術(shù)安全些。”

劉女士今年29歲，曾任職于一家金融公司做行政助理。她去醫(yī)院隆過鼻，也拉過雙眼皮，這些手術(shù)的復雜程度超乎想象，有些手術(shù)還是源自傳統(tǒng)的中藥療法。當我問她為什么選擇整容時，她回答到：“這就好比是化妝吧，每個人都想要自己變得更漂亮。女人年齡一大(皮膚)就特別需要保養(yǎng)。”

因為得幫著母親忙生意，劉女士說，“我初中都沒上完就輟學了，幸好找到了份體面的工作。如果我是個‘丑小鴨’，我是不會被錄用的。”劉女士現(xiàn)在擔心隨著年齡的增大，她會失去這份工作。雖然她晚上也去學習商業(yè)管理課程，但她仍然認為好的相貌和良好的教育背景兩個都重要。

劉女士對整容失敗的不幸遭遇也有所耳聞。就全世界來說，像拉腿這樣存在風險的手術(shù)很少會被當作整容手術(shù)來進行，但它在中國卻頗為流行。為了達到職位的身高要求，求職者們不惜花費數(shù)萬元來切斷腿骨，并分別在膝蓋和腳踝處植入鋼釘。目前已有數(shù)十名患者因并發(fā)癥而導致終身殘廢。中國衛(wèi)生部明令禁止此類有風險的整容手術(shù)，但許多私人整容診所仍然在違規(guī)進行。

出于好奇，我決定去當?shù)匾患宜饺嗽\所看一看。在一棟舊居民樓里轉(zhuǎn)了一個小時后，我終于在18樓找到了一家私人診所，樓道里躺著幾個人，可能是喝醉或者是嗑藥的吧。診所門口有一男孩，見我就熱情地詢問并招呼我在一個桌子旁坐下，桌子有些破了，而此時男孩的父親正在幾尺遠的客廳里看電視劇。

我向男孩咨詢了有關(guān)抽脂手術(shù)的情況，但他卻支吾說醫(yī)生現(xiàn)在沒空，居然還建議我進行胎盤注射，還含糊地說胎盤注射手術(shù)對女人“有益”，這可把我嚇壞了。手術(shù)需花費1630美元左右，一包注射器(5個/包)，須自己注射。我婉拒了男孩的建議，并迅速離開了診所。

劉女士說：“整容手術(shù)是一個選擇，而你得為自己和家人做最好的選擇，這就是當下中國人都在做的事情。”