Comfort in a time of stress

Wang Feng began servicing clients with custom-made wigs in his shop in 2010 after a female customer told him that people wanted to "run and hide" when they saw her bald head.

He was deeply saddened by this conversation. As a professional stylist, his job is to help people look their best, but for cancer patients, he felt he could do more to assist their battered egos. He learned to design wigs and spent years finding a reliable source to purchase human hair and factories to cooperate with.

Wang Feng's business has expanded with 10 salons around major hospitals in Beijing and other cities such as Hangzhou and Changsha, selling hundreds of wigs, in recent years.

At his salon, Wang Feng witnessed how the falling hair of his customers can pluck the tenderest heartstrings of their families.

He recalls a woman who came accompanied by her husband and daughter. When shaving off her hair, he found the husband had been biting his lip the whole time while the daughter burst into tears.

Last year, a 13-year-old girl asked Wang Feng to use her black, waterfall-like hair to make a wig for her ailing mother. While the mother was begging Wang to cut less, the daughter insisted "the shorter, the better".

"Mom's hair has gone, but mine can grow back!" the girl said.

Wigs are not cheap at Wang Feng's salon. A good custom-made wig can cost thousands of yuan.

Many of his clients are men who come alone to buy wigs for their loved ones. They invariably say to Wang Feng, "I don't care about the price, as long as my wife is comfortable and looks good."