Getting a Haircut in China: What It Costs and How to Ask for What You Want

Published 2026-11-10 · 71Asia Tours

I have had my hair cut in a mall basement in Chengdu, in a two-chair shop down a Xi'an alley, and once in a Lhasa salon where the only other customer was a monk. None of it cost more than a good lunch. Hair is a small travel problem no guidebook covers, and easy to solve once you know the routine.

What 洗剪吹 actually gets you

The standard service is 洗剪吹 (xǐ jiǎn chuī): wash, cut, blow-dry. One price, not three, and it is what you ask for almost anywhere.

The wash is the part that surprises people. You lie back while someone shampoos your hair for ten or fifteen minutes, works the scalp with their fingertips, rinses, conditions, then gives your shoulders a short rub. Some places add an ear clean for 30 or 50 yuan more. I once paid 45 yuan for the whole thing and walked out feeling like I had booked a spa by mistake.

Men and women are priced separately, openly, and it is printed on the wall.

Three kinds of shop, three price bands

Quick-cut chains sit in mall corridors and supermarket entrances. No wash, no appointment, ten minutes, 15 to 30 yuan, clippers and a vacuum hose. Fine for a short men's cut, bad for anything layered.

Neighbourhood barbershops are the ones I use. One to four chairs, a mirror, a television playing a drama nobody watches, an owner who has cut hair on that street for fifteen years. Men's wash, cut and blow-dry runs 30 to 60 yuan; women's 60 to 150, with a small supplement for very long hair because drying takes time. Walk in with a photo, point at your head, and you will get something reasonable.

Salons in shopping centres and office towers charge 100 to 300 yuan. More English, appointments expected, relentless sales pitch. Hotel salons cost 300 to 600 and are the safe, dull option before a morning meeting.

Booking is optional, waiting is not

Outside weekends you can usually walk in. Meituan and Dianping sell vouchers (团购) that knock 30 to 50 percent off the salon's own price, paid through Alipay. Check the branch address first, since vouchers often work at only a few locations.

Weekday mornings are empty. Saturday afternoon is a queue of schoolchildren and boyfriends holding coats. Avoid the days before a public holiday unless you enjoy standing up.

The phrases that decide the outcome

洗剪吹 (xǐ jiǎn chuī): the package. Say it and you are in the system.
修一下 (xiū yíxià): just tidy it up. The safest opening.
不要太短 (bú yào tài duǎn): not too short. Say it before the clippers come out.
留一点 (liú yīdiǎn): leave some. Point at the length you want to keep.
短一点 (duǎn yīdiǎn): a little shorter. In practice, noticeably shorter. Use with care.
不烫不染 (bú tàng bú rǎn): no perm, no colour. This one ends most conversations.

Photos beat vocabulary. Save two or three pictures of the cut you want, plus one of your own head at a good angle, and show them in order. Clipper grades are the numbers you already know: 3mm, 6mm, 9mm, 12mm. For a fade, ask for 渐变 (jiànbiàn) and show a photo, because the word alone will not do it.

Nobody tips. The price on the wall is the price.

The membership card, and how to refuse it

Almost every mid-range salon will try to sell you a stored-value card (会员卡). The script never changes: they quote the member price, then explain you can have it if you top up 500 to 1,000 yuan today. The discount is real, but it only works in that chain, in that city, and you leave in a week.

A polite "bú yòng, xièxie" (no need, thanks) with a smile usually ends it. If they keep going, say you fly home tomorrow. It is usually true, and nobody argues with it.

Hygiene, and the small things I bring

Combs and brushes get reused. Towels are clean, sometimes warm from a steamer. Razors are the weak point, so I carry a disposable one for necklines. If you colour, ask about a patch test and expect a blank look; bring your own formula if you care what goes on your scalp. And 拉直 (lāzhí) means chemical straightening, not a blow-dry, whatever the picture suggests.

Ten cities, honestly

Beijing: hutong shops are cheap and fast, 30 to 50 yuan. Sanlitun charges European prices and speaks English.
Xi'an: best value inside the city wall, away from the Muslim Quarter. Around 40 yuan.
Chengdu: the most relaxed version. Tea while you wait, no rush, long scalp massage.
Chongqing: expect a shop on the fifth floor of a building whose entrance is at street level.
Shanghai: the widest range in the country. English is common in the Former French Concession, and so are 300 yuan haircuts.
Lhasa: fewer shops, and dry air makes hair behave strangely. Bring your own shampoo if you are fussy.
Zhangjiajie: Wulingyuan town has basic shops at 30 to 50 yuan. No English, photos work fine.
Hong Kong: HK$150 to 400 for a men's cut, English almost everywhere, no tipping.
Macao: cheaper than Hong Kong, Cantonese-speaking, walk-ins fine, closes earlier than you expect.
Taipei: the easiest of the lot. NT$400 to 800 for men, NT$800 to 1,500 for women, booking by LINE, plenty of stylists trained abroad.

The month when nobody gets a haircut

There is an old habit of not cutting your hair during the first lunar month, so the week before Spring Festival every shop is booked solid and the month after is dead quiet. Land in mid-February and you may have a salon to yourself, with the owner taking forty minutes over your head because there is nothing else to do. Best haircut I have had in China. Fifty yuan.

The worst outcome is not a bad cut. It is a bad cut you live with for six weeks. Take a photo, say 不要太短 before the clippers come out, skip the card.

Written by the team at 71Asia Tours, a China-based tour operator with licensed Spanish- and English-speaking guides. Browse all tours · About us · Our guides · Reviews · FAQ