Ms. Yang's plight, not likely to inspire outrage among international human rights advocates, has titillated the Chinese media as she has become the latest in a growing parade of young women (and at least one man) who have become instant celebrities after undergoing extensive cosmetic surgery. These so-called artificial beauties, rather than provoking public alarm or debate, seem to be regarded as worthy product upgrades. Plastic surgery clinics are popping up around the country. Even some of the poorest young women from the countryside are willing to spend months of earnings for a procedure that gives their eyes a more rounded, Western look. Beauty pageants, once banned as bourgeois ''spiritual pollution,'' are now held across the country, among them the Miss World pageant. Shopping malls now hold underwear fashion shows. And the cosmetics giant L'Oréal saw sales in China jump by 70 percent last year. Hung Huang, chief executive of a media group that publishes Chinese lifestyle magazines, said Chinese women had always emphasized appearance and beauty. She said the loosening of social controls, along with rising incomes, had unleashed pent-up demand and fueled a consumer boom. One government estimate calculated the beauty industry in China at $24 billion.
