Jen in China: Buzz Cut Babies

Walking around Beijing, I noticed that a lot of babies have shaved heads. Most young babies have, naturally, very short/sparse hair but, these babies are sporting buzz cuts. At first, I thought it was because I arrived in Beijing during August, the hottest month. I assumed the very short haircut was to keep the baby cool. Then, I noticed that the haircuts didn’t disappear with fall or winter. So, I decided to investigate.

In China, the hair a child is born with (womb hair) is considered bad luck. So, traditionally, most of the hair is shaved off for good luck. Often, a little tuft of hair is left at the top of the head. Now, many people do not shave their baby’s head. They often just do a symbolic trim for the occasion.

The head is shaved for the baby’s Full Moon Celebration. This is done when the baby is one month old. The Full Moon Celebration is, basically, a party for the parents’ friends and extended family to meet the baby. Traditionally, mom and the new baby go through a resting/confinement time until the baby is one month old. During this time, they do not usually receive visitors.

The Full Moon Celebration sounds fun. There is food, gifts, etc. Plus, the baby gets his/her first haircut. I haven’t been to one but, if invited, I would like to go.

There are other occasions when Chinese children get really short haircuts. The second month of the lunar year is supposed to be a lucky time for a haircut. Shortly after we came back from our Chinese New Year vacation, several of my male students got buzz cuts. The girls didn’t get such drastic cuts though. They all appeared to have cut an inch of so off of their hair.

Well, now I know why, no matter the season, there are a bunch of buzz cut babies walking around Beijing.