Chengdu, China - Chinese street barber
Xiong Gaowu deftly scrapes a straight razor along the inside of
his customer's eyelid.
"You should be gentle, very, very gentle," said Xiong, who
performs traditional eyelid shaves at his roadside location in
Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Customers swear by the practice of "blade wash eyes", as it
is known in Mandarin, saying they trust Xiong's skill with the
blade.
"No, it's not dangerous," said 68-year-old Zhang Tian. "My
eyes feel refreshed after shaving and I feel comfortable."
Xiong, 62, said he learned the technique in the 1980s and
serves up to eight customers a week, charging 80 yuan ($12) per
shave.
"It was difficult at the beginning, but it became a piece of
cake afterwards," he said.
The technique appears to unblock moisturizing sebaceous
glands along the rim of the eyelid, said Qu Chao, an
opthalmologist who works at a nearby hospital in Chengdu.
"Patients will feel their eyes are dry and uncomfortable
when the glands are blocked," she said. "When he is shaving, it
is most likely that he is shaving the openings of these glands."
She said there was a risk of infection if the equipment was
not sterilised.
"If he can properly sterilize the tools that he uses, I can
still see there is a space for this technique to survive," Qu
said.
While customers insisted their eyes felt better after a
shave, onlookers cringed at the sight of Xiong wielding his
razor.
"I am afraid to do it," said He Yiting, 27, who winced as
she watched.