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In China, as well as many other Asian countries, big, doll-like eyes with double folded eye lids are the most admired. It's part of their Western fascination, and the idea of looking as cute as the characters drawn in anime.

A slim face, pointed chin and small lips are also highly appreciated in the beauty world here, as a square shaped jaw is considered manly.

(Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

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In North America, bronzed skin is highly sought after since it suggests you go outside and enjoy the sun while traveling, rather than spend all your time working indoors. (Palms Casino Resort) This ideal is viewed quite differently in China, and it's not because they want to copy Caucasians. By ancient tradition, pale skin shows you never tanned while working outside as a peasant, therefore, skin bleaching products are used to lighten the skin to imply superiority.

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Something deemed illegal in the the U.S. is a regular occurrence in China, where employees are discriminated against. The service industries are extremely competitive, as in this picture all the flight attendants look extremely similar. This is because the requirements to get hired there include:
-Must be under 25
-Be between 152 cm-175 cm.
-No glasses
-Thin/Slim
-No visible scars or blemishes

(Southern Airlines Air Hostess)

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In China, you'll find many women unhappy with their weight because they constantly want to be thinner, like K-Pop idols. There are many challenges like the A4 sheet of paper fad, where if you're waist was bigger than the width of the 8"x11" sheet, you were too big. Another trend started where you tried putting a roll of coins on your collar bone and if they stayed there, you were considered skinny. Small games like this seem harmless, but they harbor shame, and obsession over body image.

The ideals are built around small feet, long , lean legs, a cushioned but not obtrusive bottom, tiny waist and delicate features. As plastic surgery rises in popularity, the pressure to look the same as everyone else becomes very great.

(Oriental Beauty)

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It's no secret that China has some of the strangest commercials out there, and with the growing popularity in online shopping, we can see their "beauty products" trickling down to us as well. Many YouTubers will buy a haul of Asian products to test them out and demonstrate how absurd they are.

Generally geared towards slimming the face, the nose, cheeks and jawlines, these products come in all shapes and sizes, with minimal results. It's the fear of not being beautiful within the consumer that keeps these products being made.

(Yumi King)

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Perhaps the most simple, but popular, beauty products in many Asian make-up cases are the "Double Eyelid Stickers or Tapes". Essentially these feign the look a double lid by creating a new crease. This opens up the eyes of those with mono-lids, giving them a very doll-like look.

(AliExpress)

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You may believe, that aside from a little variation between our winter and summer complexions,  we can't exactly alter our genetic code to achieve lighter or darker skin. In many Asian countries however, the use of bleaching skin creams is extremely common. During the Imperial China period, noble women would often dress themselves with rice powder to whiten their faces. Although dated, we are still hung up on that ideal, no matter damaging these new age products may be to our skin.

(Shills)

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Getting Botox has become so common in China, people are getting it on their lunch breaks, whether to plump their lips, cheekbones or other smaller, less invasive procedures.

The most demanded surgery is going under the knife to get double eyelids. More invasive procedures include face sculpting, where they shave off some of the bone long the chin, or jaw line, to achieve a smaller face. Calf slimming is also popular, but another leg related procedure includes breaking the bones, and placing pins or pulls inside to create an extra few inches of height.

This a growing market, and China's in third place behind the U.S.A. and Brazil. Many Chinese believe they need to represent modern China, by conforming to the beauty standards and this is the only way to get hired.

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A traditional Chinese dragon tattoo is certainly stunning in today's modern world, it wasn't always just a representation of artist expression. In Chinese history, the permanent ink displayed rebellion, danger and deviance as it was used on criminals as punishment.

Piercings are more rare but viewed very much the same way, and younger generations are causing their popularity to gain traction.

Unfortunately, the stigma of these alterations still stick with many of the older generations to this day. Slowly, but surely they are being accepted into Chinese culture as a symbol of self expression instead of having negative connotation.

(China Daily)

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It's extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that media is not slowing down in causing issues with body image.  It has wired our brains in thinking in order to be successful, we must be beautiful, since that's all we see on TV and in the ads.

We've been working so hard on body positivity here in North America, while in China the pressure to get plastic surgery continues to grow. It's unfortunate, but there's only so much we can do besides avoiding to buy into it, being our individual selves and evade the expectations to become another clone.

(Fan Bing Bing)

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By far one of the most disturbing beauty trends ever found in Chinese culture was the act of feet binding, wherein women would have their toes forced inward at a young age to make the feet smaller. This was seen as a sensual feature on women, despite causing extreme discomfort and pain as well as infections, gangrene.

The smaller the feet, the more sophisticated these women were considered, therefore likening their chance of getting married. It is estimated these practices carried on for over 1,000 years, but are no longer considered humane in the modern age.

(Woman with Bound Feet, Wikimedia Commons)