And the challenge of processing people who look nothing like their passport photos reached new heights on Sunday when 23 Chinese women returned to Shanghai together after visiting South Korea, looking completely different from the way they looked when they left Hongqiao Airport.
The travellers had bigger eyes, higher noses and slimmer chins than the women in the photographs. "After they took off their huge hats and big sunglasses following our request, we saw them looking differently, with bandages and stitches here and there," said Chen Tao, an airport officer.
"We had to compare their uncorrected parts with their photos very carefully with our eyes and machines," he said. While it normally takes about 45 seconds to clear a single passenger, the process on Sunday took several minutes per person, he said.
"They told the officers that they are friends and that they had gone to South Korea together to have cosmetic surgery," he said. "We have seen travellers like that once in a while but never in such a large group," said Chen, who added that most of the people returning to China after having facelifts overseas were women.
Chen Tao said one woman in the group joked that going under the knife was the best way to ensure her husband was not tempted into having an affair. "After they passed the identification, we asked them all to renew their passports immediately," Chen said.
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