A recent expose revealed unlicensed plastic surgery "speed courses" at cosmetic centers in China that churn out students who practice procedures on chicken parts and rabbits.
According to the investigative CCTV report on Wednesday, one center in Guangzhou is offering a four-day "micro surgery" course in eyelid surgery and Botox injections.
Costing 6,500 yuan ($989), most of the course at Kangli Micro-Plastic Surgery Training Center focuses on how to find customers.
"Graduates should try to keep a low profile," an instructor at the school surnamed Chen told undercover reporters, "especially if you want to open your own business. You can't give valid receipts."
When asked about the risks, the beauty centers only sounded shadier.
"As long as you don't run into big problems, money can take care of the small ones," said Chen. "Two days ago the industry had a problem like that. A teacher was performing an eyelid procedure and ended up sticking them right in the eyeball."
While Chen said students practice eyelid surgery using chicken skin, another school in Beijing has students practice on live animals.
"You practice on chicken wings first, then do it on little rabbits," a teacher at Yijiantang Training Center told reporters.
Clinics offering such quick classes are a response to fast-rising demand. Cosmetic surgery has boomed in China in recent years, leading people to seek ways to cash in on the market.
The teacher in Beijing said some beauty clinics overcharge upwards of 30,000 yuan for Botox shots that are not guaranteed to be safe or real.
That goes for their licenses, too. Most of certifications at such clinics are either semi-legal or completely fake, reporters found.
But the teacher did not seem too concerned about getting caught.
"There are so many, you can't catch them all," she said. "You're not worth catching if you haven't killed anyone."
