I bet most, if not all, girls will agree with me that a good haircut can even be a life changing matter, and a bad one has the power to ruin your mood for a considerable amount of time. So unless you are naturally blessed with enviable, thick locks like my Ecuadorian friend , who never hesitates to boast that she doesn’t need to go to the hair salon and always makes empty promises about donating some of her hair to me, then your last resort is just a good haircut. When I left Poland and came to China, one of my biggest worries was if I would be able to find someone here capable of taking such a good care of my hair as my longtime, extremely creative and talented hairstylist Klaudiusz Iciek, who pays attention to the smallest detail and used to even spend one hour trimming my bangs. At the beginning, because of my afore mentioned limited budget, I was just choosing random hair salons, where you can get haircut for even 35 - 50 RMB, including head and shoulder massage. But the thing is that my hair was always looking the same. And since my Polish hairstylist spoilt me with is creativity and new ideas every time I was coming over, I didn’t want to give up on my hair-pampering habits. So remaining determined, I kept visiting various hair salons in Jingan area where I used to live for a while. And that’s how I came across Play salon in Jiaozhou road. The very first reason it appealed to me was the interior design – this is my ‘creativity measure’ when it comes to hair salons. If the interior is different than others, it usually means that people who work there are not ‘mamahuhu’( as Chinese people used to call something mediocre, okay, but not really outstanding) Actually, the first visit started with a little bit of a drama, to make it more interesting. I chose creative designer and asked him to change sth about my bangs but keep the length, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he would surprise me. But to me despair, turned out he was just trimming it, without any significant change. Putting my Chinese skills into practice, I showed him my Polish hairstylist’s website and explained that to me, creative designer should be easily able to come up with these kinds of designs. But all I got in return was this look in his eyes that said it all ‘ You are such a demanding b..ch!’ Fortunately the whole scene was observed by the boss of the ‘Play’ salon, who understood my feeling and told his irritated employee that he would take over my case..And since that day, last fall 2013, my foot hasn’t stepped to other hair salon. For a few legitimate reasons : Michael – the boss and stylist – is very meticulous, always recognizes the needs of his clients, is able to come up with his own ideas, without expecting you to tell him what exactly you want and the price will not overwhelm you at all! For the top creative designer, Michael or another one, you will pay about 120 RMB, and it is really worth it! The only thing is, similarly to the nail salon, the guys don’t really speak English. But hey – I will stick to what I already said – making a bit of an effort on honing your Chinese skills to get a great haircut at a low price is a great deal!