ALSO KNOWN AS
Ionic perm (lizi tang), negative-ion straightening (fu lizi zhi fa — Hong Kong and Taiwan), pull-straight (la zhi — the everyday colloquial), plus rou shun — the soften-smooth service.
QUICK ANSWER
China's straightening vocabulary maps onto treatments this guide already covers: lizi tang — the "ionic perm" — is the mainland's classic name for permanent rebonding-style straightening; fu lizi, "negative ion", is Hong Kong and Taiwan's version of the same; la zhi, "pull straight", is the everyday colloquial for any straightening; rou shun is the softer smoothing tier. The ions were always marketing; the chemistry was always thio.
THE TERMS, ONE BY ONE
LIZI TANG — IONIC PERM. Born in the early 2000s when ion-technology irons were the marketing miracle of the moment, lizi tang became the mainland's standard word for permanent straightening — chemically identical to hair rebonding: softener, iron, neutraliser. The name survives on every menu in China while the ionic part means precisely nothing about the bottle.
FU LIZI — NEGATIVE-ION STRAIGHTENING. Hong Kong and Taiwan's parallel branding of the same era and the same chemistry, still the default phrase for pin-straight permanent work across Cantonese-speaking salons.
LA ZHI — PULL STRAIGHT. The colloquial umbrella — what people actually say. It can mean any straightening tier, so the real conversation starts after the phrase: permanent or soft, flat or with volume.
ROU SHUN — SOFTEN-SMOOTH. The gentler tier: milder chemistry aimed at manageable, natural-falling hair — China's cousin of smoothening and the Japanese straight perm. Increasingly the young-market default as poker-straight fashion softens.
Imported vocabulary rounding out modern menus: hanshi la zhi — Korean-style straightening, i.e. magic straight and volume magic — and rishi for the Japanese precision tier.
WHO EACH TERM SUITS — AND SAFETY
The mapping does the work: wanting permanent pin-straight — lizi tang or fu lizi, with every rule from the rebonding page applying verbatim (strand tests, chemical history, no bleach adventures, thio-family pregnancy postponement, roots-only touch-ups). Wanting soft and natural — rou shun, with the smoothening page's tier questions. Wanting straight with life — ask for the Korean style by name.
IN THE CHAIR
Identical to the parent treatments: softener, processing with checks, rinse, iron work, neutraliser, finish. Three to five hours for permanent versions; under two for rou shun. The 72-hour no-wash rules travel with the classic chemistry regardless of language.
WHAT CAN GO WRONG
Everything on the rebonding page, plus one China-specific trap: assuming the ion-era names describe modern technology. They describe 2003's marketing. Judge salons by diagnosis, strand tests and honest strength conversations, in any language.
THE HAIRDRESSER'S VERDICT
EDITOR NOTE: ZOLTAN — 4-6 sentences: navigating treatment names across languages with clients, and the questions that matter more than any menu word.
FAQ
Q: What does lizi tang actually mean?
A: Literally "ion perm" — early-2000s marketing for ion-technology irons that became mainland China's permanent name for rebonding-style straightening. The chemistry is standard thio softener, iron and neutraliser; the ionic branding outlived the technology it advertised by twenty years.
Q: Is fu lizi different from lizi tang?
A: Same treatment, different region: fu lizi — negative ion — is the Hong Kong and Taiwan phrasing; lizi tang is the mainland's. Both book you a rebonding-family permanent straightening. Regional vocabulary, identical bottles.
Q: What should I actually ask for in a Chinese salon?
A: Skip the era-names and describe the finish: permanent pin-straight (the lizi tang tier), soft and natural (rou shun), or Korean-style straight with volume (hanshi). Then ask the universal questions — which chemistry, what strength, strand test — that this whole guide exists to arm you with.
Q: Is rou shun the same as smoothening?
A: Same idea, different flag: milder chemistry for natural-falling, manageable hair rather than mirror-flat. India calls the tier smoothening, Japan calls it sutopa, China calls it rou shun. Read the smoothening page's tier questions before booking any of them.