"I have experienced two challenges in my life: cutting Chairman Mao's hair for the first time, and for the last time," recalled 76-year-old Zhou Fuming, who was Mao's personal hairdresser for 17 years and served him more than 1,800 times.
Zhou first met Mao in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, on December 26, 1959--Mao's 30th birthday. Zhou was just 24.
Without knowing who he was going to serve, Zhou was driven to a swimming stadium at about 10:00 p.m., where he was finally told, "We brought you here to give a haircut to Chairman Mao."
"It was like thunder piercing my ears," said Zhou.
"Relax, just treat him like an ordinary customer," said Li Yinqiao, Mao's bodyguard.
But upon first seeing Mao, Zhou tensed up and his face reddened with excitement and anxiety.
Zhou recalled that it was the most challenging task he had ever undertaken, and though it was a freezing winter day, he perspired heavily from his forehead. "Mao was reading one of the Twenty-Four Histories with avid attention. I had to give the haircut according to his posture," said Zhou.
Zhou added that Mao soon stopped to talk with him about his family, which helped him relax. After the haircut, Zhou also shaved Mao's beard. The whole process went smoothly and only took 20 minutes.
"Mao beamed with satisfaction," noted Zhou, whose life went through a great change from then on.
In April 1960, Zhou accompanied Mao to Beijing and started his new career in Zhongnanhai, an area adjacent to the Forbidden City which serves as the central headquarters for the Communist Party of China.
"Nothing is small in Zhongnanhai, so we treated every detail very seriously," pointed out Zhou.
"Mao's hairstyle could not be changed easily. Though he had had closely-cropped or parted hair before, as a leader his haircut generally had to be fixed," said Zhou, referring to his years of experience. "I had to pay more attention to his sideburns, which would look unsymmetrical with a bad cut, because he had more hair on the right side."
Because of his careful consideration, Zhou was later appointed as Mao's private personal assistant.
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