One of the great things about living in China is that almost everything is excusable, at least for us hapless foreigners. Fumble with your chopsticks? No big deal! Speak Mandarin like you've sustained a blow to the head? At least you're trying! But one cultural faux pas will still stop a conversation dead in its tracks: You think Lucy Liu is pretty?

Indeed, Ms. Liu just might be the best conversation starter in all of China. Back in Hollywood, she is a B-list celebrity at best, but over here she is the oft-cited exemplar of everything that is wrong with Western notions of Chinese beauty. Ditto for the animated heroine of Disney's Mulan.

Before I came to China, I had never thought much at all about Ms. Liu, who had ensemble roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Charlie's Angels series and Kill Bill Vol. 1. And I certainly never expected that I would come to defend her virtues as an actress or as a physical specimen. Yet it would seem that many Chinese, especially younger Chinese, care deeply about the way Westerners view Chinese people. My local friends tell me-with a hint of disgust in their voices-that Ms. Liu's almond-shaped eyes in particular ought to discount her from being a movie star. I prefer to believe that the fundamental disagreement instead lies in our own eyes.

There are many clichés about beauty in English, but one in particular comes in handy at these moments-beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In the United States, for example, beautiful things come in many shapes and sizes, and exoticism is a rare and sought-after commodity. Meanwhile, notions of beauty in China are changing as fast as everything else is, even if they seem to be moving in a streamlined direction over time. China's opening up has certainly caused a reevaluation of what makes a beautiful face and, frankly, I don't always like what I see.

There is no shortage of billboards and magazines in China with westernized Chinese models staring out at you, with their big, shuangyanpi (double-lid) eyes, pointy noses, and even light-colored hair. There is nothing wrong with these models per se, but over time their "exotic" features will surely serve to affect the way younger Chinese view themselves. More crucially, more and more people in China are coming to believe that there is a qualifiable standard for beauty, the dangers of which are anything but superficial. One needs look no further than South