Has anyone had a basic shampoo and blow dry while in China, i.e. Beijing, Guilin or Shanghai? If so, can you recommend a salon and how much did it cost? Are there many hair salons to choose from? Thank you.

Not in the cities mentioned, but in X'ian.
I was delighted at the professionalism of the lass and the the results were more than OK..and come to think of it I had a cut too.
I was so pleased that I gave her a little koala..which elicited a beautiful smile!
That was in 2001 and I found on my return that Australian TAFE Colleges had training contracts with China well before then and they continue.
Hope this helps..cheers

I do this all the time, in fact I am doing it tomorrow morning here in Bangkok before my day full of meetings. First, check with your hotel to see if they have a salon in the hotel, and if so make a booking there, it’s just easier, albeit it is usually more expensive. If not, ask them for a recco of a nearby salon, i.e. one within walking distance. There usually is one nearby in my experience. If they come up with nothing, then try walking a bit in the neighborhood, or try the yellow pages phone book that is usually in your hotel room, these may not be in English in Guilin. (Ask you hotel about locations you find if you don’t know the city.) Sometimes a guidebook has info on beauty salons.

For cost, inside 5 star hotels in my experience I think you will pay between US$10-25 for the shampoo/ blow dry, it will really just depend on the hotel and the city (Guilin would be cheaper than the other two would be my guess, have not had my hair done there). In high-end salons reccod by the hotel, you will pay about the same. In little places you find yourself, you will pay less, albeit you will have to find a place where someone speak English so you could end up at a higher-end salon anyway. I pay US$6 in Hong Kong at a very local place (but there are English-speaking staff), so if you can find a small local place in any of these cities, my guess is that you would pay the same or even less.

In my experience having this done at salons of all types everywhere in Asia, no one has ever done a bad job. It’s not like a hair cut, they really cannot ruin it.

In Shanghai, the spa in the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square also does shampoo/blow dry and I would recommend them. In Beijing, there is a salon about 2 blocks from the Peninsula hotel called the Babe Salon which I would also recco, it was the Penn hotel which reccod it to me, address is below. However, I don’t really think you need to travel to either if you aren’t near them, as I think you could find a local salon that would be just as good.

3 Jinyu Hutong
Tel: 6528-6060

I know this isn't in the cities you want to know about, but I had the best shampoo, cut and style I have EVER received...in Tibet! Absolutely wonderful. For $2 they did an absolutely terrific job. My hair looked great for over a month after.

Mark-

Thanks all - I was sure there would be salons in hotels and nearby, but had never seen this addressed on the Board. As noted, it's hard to mess up a wash and blowdry. It will become another memory.

Yes indeed. I got a style while in Iran also, but it wasn't nearly as god as the one in Tibet. The big thing for m is...its a more *mundane* experience, more common everyday sort of thing AND...rather than $20, $2 is a nice price to pay!