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By Guest Reporter, June 30, 2011 4:11 pm

Written by Stefanie Chan, Starcom China Intern

We have already witnessed the sheer power of the internet several times and seen the effects that hundreds of millions of internet users can cause.  Many times when a single piece of internet content peaks the interest of several people, the piece in question can instantly go viral. What is great about viral sensations is that they can trigger organized acts of kindness.

Fu Youlian, a watermelon farmer from Yanbian county in Sichuan, posted on the social network, Weibo, about the reports of watermelons bursting because of the use of growth chemicals. He lamented that the chemical scare had severely hindered the sales of Chinese melon farmers. Despite the fact that the watermelons his family grows were all natural and contained no growth chemicals, they were still unable to sell their melons even at a fraction of last year’s price.

After just eight hours of being posted, Fu’s micro blog post had been forwarded over 26,000 times and received 5,000 comments.

The online community had seen Fu’s story and were motivated to help him and his family out of their unfortunate predicament. Netizens organized group purchases and melon dealers asked Fu to buy his crops.

A mere seven hours after Fu’s blog post, Fu posted again with news that his melons were almost sold out, and hinted that his fellow melon farmers were also in need of help. Once again, the community of netizens sprang into action.

Thanks to a single man’s blog post and the help of the online community, the 100,000 tons of watermelons from Fu’s county were close to sold out.

It just goes to show how a single post made by an ordinary man could reach out to thousands of Chinese netizens and lead to an amazing feat. It also shows that the online community isn’t only extremely well connected, but that Chinese netizens are compassionate towards their fellow human beings; they just need a trigger to motivate them to make a change.

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By Guest Reporter, June 1, 2011 12:09 pm

Written by Stefanie Chan, Starcom China Intern

What do you do if you already own a car and a house, have travelled to your heart’s content, and still have some extra money at hand?  You receive cosmetic surgery.  According to China’s vice health minister, Ma Xiaowei, cosmetic and plastic surgery is now the fourth most popular way to spend discretionary income.

Lately, more and more women (and a number of men) in China have been turning towards cosmetic surgery as both a solution to their physical discontentment, and as a trendy luxury.  Women ask for operations to “enhance” their current features, such as wider eyes, longer and more narrow noses, a slimmer jaw, and fuller breasts.

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Cosmetic surgery in China is a USD$2.5 billion yearly industry which is growing at a rate of 20 percent a year.  There have been an estimated 1 million cosmetic surgery operations performed every year.

The number one most requested operation in China is to add a crease in the eyelid for a “double eyelid”.  This gives the illusion of making eyes appear larger.

Second, is to raise the bridge of the nose to make it more prominent, followed by the third most popular operation, which is reshaping the jaw to make it narrower and longer.

Yet like surgery in any other part of the world, these operations are not cheap. Creating double eyelids cost around USD$360, breast implants approximately USD$2,500.

The increasing number of consumers undergoing cosmetic surgery signifies China’s growing ability to spend.  As explained by a doctor at the Peking Medical Union College’s Plastic Surgery Hospital, “People want to look more beautiful as a way to show off their newfound wealth.”

This is the same woman - before & after

Piggybacking on the increasing popularity of cosmetic surgery, there has been an increase in the number of unlicensed salons and small clinics which offer the same operations for a fraction of the price.  These centres contain subpar equipment and employees without proper credentials and attract large swarms of upwardly mobile patients who are unaware of the dangers posed by the unapproved clinics.  According to industry reports, these illegal operations have been the cause of over 200,000 lawsuits for physical disfiguration.

So if these operations are such a hazard, why do people take that risk? The answer is because beauty brings money.  Many men and women in China undergo surgery to enhance their prospects in the work force. With over 1.3 billion people in China, it is critical that one must stand out.

To combat the rising acceptance and popularity of cosmetic surgery, perhaps companies can look to strengthen the self esteem and self perception of consumers and for the beauty and grooming sectors to show Chinese consumers that looking good (and feeling good) are achievable without surgery.

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