Edward Wong, A Dark Look at Modeling in China. New York Times, Jan 14, 2014 (blog)
sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/a-dark-look-at-modeling-in-china/
(Meredith Hattam’s account of working for several months for an agency in Beijing owned by a former Ukrainian model * * * The essay appeared recently on Fashionista, a popular blog * * * Ms Hattam, who now lives in Brooklyn, was around 24 years old)
"For that job [one car show], the daily pay was 3,000 renmimbi, or about $500. Forty percent went to the agency and 10 percent to the scout, which is not unusual. 'By the time we leave China, we’ll have earned nothing at all.'
"In Beijing, Ms Hattam lived in a cramped apartment with 12 other models, most of them under 18 and from countries in the former Soviet Union or Eastern Europe. Of the 13 roommates, there were nine girls and four boys.
"Most jobs lasted nine hours a day and required travel to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, cities central to China’s fashion industry.