The Hair Salon Sisters of the Siheyuan

In 1998, a hair salon opens in a Beijing courtyard and causes a sensation from day one!

Chunfang uses a curling iron to drive off hooligans, while Liu Xiaojuan dyes her hair blue as a banner of defiance.

In the middle of a downpour, she yanks open her high collar to reveal a faded tattoo. “This is a medal I’ve scraped off with a razor three times!”

Anyone who spreads slander gets hair oil smeared over their mouth.

Anyone who knocks down the courtyard wall gets a cultural Great Wall welded together with curling tongs!

By the time pagers have given way to smartphones, comb perms have become intangible cultural heritage.

The rules of the courtyard? The sisters’ curling irons make them!