During the 1980s and '90s, it was all the rage for some Hong Kong celebrities and tai-tais to disappear from public view and re-emerge a few weeks later looking much younger.
And the key to this magical makeover? Sheep - or more precisely lambs residing in the Swiss Alps.
Wealthy Hongkongers were checking into beauty resorts in the country and receiving anti-ageing injections extracted from sheep organs, usually the placenta or liver.
Nowadays, this unconventional and expensive form of live cell therapy, which often costs a quarter of a million Hong Kong dollars per treatment, is less popular in Hong Kong amid an avalanche of cheaper products and treatments.
But over the past five years, a growing number of mainlanders have been travelling to Switzerland to try the alternative therapy, either through injection, oral medication, or a combination of both.
Montreux, a picturesque town near Geneva with a concentration of cell therapy clinics, has seen a notable rise recently in mainland medical tourists. Over the last five years, demand by mainlanders has increased substantially,' says Dr Adrian Heini, medical director of Clinique La Prairie, a luxury spa located in the Swiss town.
