Chinese hairdresser creates Tiananmen hair sculptures

A Beijing hairdresser is preparing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Communist China's founding with a replica of the buildings and monuments around Tiananmen Square - all made entirely of human hair.

So far, Huang Xin has completed the Monument to the People's Heroes, and is putting the finishing touches to the Gate of Heavenly Peace or Tiananmen, complete with a miniature portrait of former Chairman Mao - the only part not made of hair.



That leaves him with another two huge communist buildings - the Great Hall of People and The National Museum of Chinese History - to complete before the Oct. 1 anniversary.

About 11 kg of hair and 500 yuan ($71) worth of hair dye and other supplies were used to build the Gate of Heavenly Peace replica, which is about a metre long. It took Huang days to draw a simple blueprint and five months to gather enough hair to create the landmark.



Instead of throwing away customers' hair after a cut, Huang Xin sweeps it up, washes and dyes the clumps of hair and converts them into a substitute for bricks, wood or any other material needed for his artworks.

"Some customers are supportive, some are not. Some just don't believe it's possible to make models of such huge architecture using such a delicate material as human hair," Huang said.

There's a news video here.