In some ways this is evidence of how the status of women in China has been transformed in the past 100 years. Concubinage has been abolished, the purchasing of brides severely curtailed and, at least in the biggest cities, the birth of a female child is no longer a disappointment. The opportunities for women to work have greatly expanded; while women may not figure prominently in senior government there are significant female presences in other professions.
This is not to say that old sexisms have been eradicated. This is a society, after all, where successful middle-aged men routinely date girls in their early 20s. It's accepted that men who can afford to will support a mistress.
Sophie Li, 29, works as a personal assistant (PA) for a European multinational company.
"I think in China there is still a greater degree of objectification of women than in countries like Britain," she said. "Looks are always important when you apply for a job here -- sometimes the most important thing of all."
Companies routinely refer to desired physical appearance in job advertisements. One British firm operating in Shanghai recently placed a job ad for a new PA to the managing director.
"Would suit former model," potential applicants were advised.
In the past few years, beauty contests, after years of Communist disapproval, have become fashionable. Next year's Miss World competition will be held in Hainan Island for the third year in a row.
At some levels of Chinese society, women are still willing to endure pain to conform to an ideal of beauty. Cosmetic surgery outfits are now big business -- in 2003, for instance, the Ninth People's hospital in Shanghai performed an industrious 70 cosmetic operations a day. A particular regional favorite is eyelid reconstruction, a 30-minute operation where an extra crease is sewn into the eyelid above the eye, giving a more Western countenance.
Nowadays women are choosing cosmetic surgery for themselves, whereas no six-year-old ever asked to have her feet bound. But when, as in November 2003, a newspaper runs a competition to find "the ugliest girl in Shanghai," it does seem that China's feminist revolution has yet to run its course. The prize, inevitably, was cosmetic surgery; the winner, a girl from the countryside called Zhang Di,was thrilled, and giddily informed reporters than finally, at the age of 26, she might catch a man.
"Every girl wants to find a good man," Han said. "You mustn't seem unattractive. That's why we had to bind our feet. Some things don't change."
On the work bench, her tiny slipper is now taking shape. It is 16cm from heel to toe, and it would hurt an eight-year-old child.
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