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August 28, 2009

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Beauty of a trip will cost pretty penny

TEN Chinese women have each paid 200,000 yuan (US$29,000) for a trip to extend their youth in Switzerland in October.

The women, all aged over 40, have signed up for a course of "revitalization" therapy using fresh fetal sheep liver cells at the Clinique La Prairie Medical and Revitalization Center on the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreaux.

Another 30 expressed interest in the package, said Zhang Xiao, chairman of the Nanning Overseas Travel Service Co Ltd in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Zhang said half of the participants were entrepreneurs and the others were wives of government officials.

The travel agency will arrange everything for the trip including interpreters to communicate with the doctors.

"For a career woman like me, money is not a problem, I just want my health and beauty back," a participant surnamed Xu said. "I also persuaded four friends to come.

"Doctors told me I should receive the therapy every two years for the best effect," Xu added. "I believe it is worth every penny."

Beauty tourism is a flourishing industry in China, but the trip is well beyond the means of most city dwellers, who earned an average disposable income of 1,460 yuan a month in the first half of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

"We offer services to a growing number of customers receiving the therapy in Switzerland," said Liu Jingtao, a Beijing representative of the Clinique center.

"In 2003, we only had one customer, but it has increased to 30 this year," Liu said.

The fetal cells, taken as a drink, could hold back the effects of aging and help the recipient regain vitality and increase immunity, said Zhang Xiaomei, chief editor of China Beauty Fashion newspaper.

"It's a pity the domestic beauty industry cannot cater to such a lucrative sector," said the chief editor.




 

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