Oscar Holland/CNN

Despite his father having an “m-shaped” hairline, Alex Han from northeast China never thought he’d experience hair loss in his 20s.
While studies have suggested almost all Caucasian men will eventually face some degree of male pattern baldness — and around half can expect to lose their hair by middle age — Asian men, and East Asians in particular, have historically experienced the lowest incidence of hair loss in the world.
A 2010 study from six Chinese cities found that fewer than 3% of men aged 18-29, and just over 13% of those in their 30s, experienced male pattern baldness. Earlier research from South Korea suggested that only 14.1% of the entire male population was affected, while Japanese men were found to develop male pattern baldness approximately a decade later than their European counterparts.
But as Han, now 34, later discovered, genetics isn’t everything. Stress, poor diet, lack of sleep and smoking can all contribute to hair loss. And with lifestyles in China changing dramatically in recent decades, so too are the country’s hairlines.
“I was prepping my masters entrance examinations and there was a lot of pressure, so I probably didn’t sleep very well,” Han said in a phone interview. “At that time, (my receding hairline) was under control, but after three years in Beijing getting my masters, I moved to Germany for PHD study … and not only me, but other Asian students there, had a problem with hair loss.”
It’s an issue faced by many in Han’s generation, and younger. A 50,000-person survey by the China Association of Health Promotion and Education reportedly found that the country’s 30-somethings were going bald faster than any other group. Almost a third of respondents who were born in or after 1990 reported thinning hair, according to Chinese state media. A similar poll by Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University reportedly found that an astonishing 60% of students had experienced some degree of hair loss.
Chinese state broadcaster CGTN went so far as to describe hair loss among the young as an “epidemic.” But lifestyle changes have been accompanied by transformations in both technology and disposable income. Hair transplants are a viable solution for a growing number of men, and the Chinese market for the procedure is expected to hit 20.8 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) in 2020, more than four times what it was four years ago, according to market research firm Statistica.
Han opted to travel to Thailand for the transplant, which sees thousands of hair follicles grafted from other parts of the body — such as the chest, or back of the neck — onto the head. The eight- to 10-hour procedure cost him around $9,000, though he found clinics in China quoting “a sixth of that.” The transplant may take months to take effect, though Han expressed hope that he will “see the results and see my hair return to normal in the next two or three months,” adding, “then I’ll behave as if nothing has happened.”
Navigating stigmas
Han’s fears mirror those experienced by men with receding hairlines around the world, namely the impact on his confidence, professional prospects and first impressions. “Hairstyles, for me, are critically important for men’s first impressions,” he said.
But losing your hair may be especially difficult in countries where it’s less common. The male beauty standards in East Asian popular culture — from Korean K-pop to Hong Kong’s movie industry — often favor big hair and boyish looks. “In Asian cultures the younger generation really like idols like (Chinese pop band) TFBoys,” Han said, adding that standards for white or black men are often different.
For 37-year-old David Ko, a Seoul-based reporter who has previously written about his experience of hair loss, the lack of visibility of hairless men in South Korea “certainly plays a role in people feeling uncomfortable about going bald.”
“Whenever there is a precedent, people tend to feel (more confident) to follow,” he said in an email interview.