Beijing Salons

I was walking due west on a busy street 鼓樓西大街 in Beijing, when I passed by a shop with full-length glass doors, a red national flag outside, but no obvious name. I was startled to find a young woman in a revealing dress just inside the glass door. Less than 10 meters down the street, a similar shop with glass doors but no name, with another young woman in a revealing dress inside. They looked like salons. But I did not go back to find out, lest I got mistaken as a customer or worse.

I did get across the street to take this picture, in which one of the women is visible on the left. Such salons are common in many cities nowadays, including prominent cities such as Xian 西安, and small cities such as YangXin 陽新 in Hubei. But I was surprised to find them on such a busy street in Beijing.

In the mean time, Beijing is pulling out all stops to look pretty for the Olympics. Just a bit down the same street, two men were putting fresh plaster on old brick walls.