China’s Got Talent… Circumcision Edition: In Utterly Bizarre Competition, 100 Chinese Surgeons Show Their Cutting Skills to ‘Raise Awareness of Taboo Penis Procedures’

China has crowned its best circumcision surgeon after staging an extremely bizarre competition.

More than 100 of China’s top surgeons took part in the three-hour online competition last December, showing pre-recorded videos of their work, which they discussed in front of a tightly controlled, ‘serious’ audience.

The jury then assessed the surgeons based on technique, explanation and innovation.

Organizers Guo Tao and host Wang Xin, both urologists, said that was their goal break the taboo surrounding circumcision, which is considered uncivilized in China.

However, sometimes there is a medical need for the procedure, including a tight foreskin.

An anti-circumcision activist holds banners in Las Vegas, US, including one calling for the jailing of doctors who perform the procedure

Two months after the competition took place, a spectator shared a photo of the unique event on Chinese social media platform Weixen, the South China Morning Mail reported.

Each participating surgeon presented a six-minute pre-recorded circumcision video with live commentary.

Some doctors showed creativity in their work, including homemade penis protection devices to be worn after surgery and the careful application of postoperative ointments.

The winning doctor, urologist Jiang Qiqi, emphasized the value of circumcision using comical illustrations and was praised by the jury for his “humanistic” approach that is rare among Chinese doctors, according to the South China Morning Post.

People watching the match had to go through a strict identity verification process to confirm they were ‘serious observers’.

A female viewer said: ‘At first I felt a little curious and embarrassed seeing so many male reproductive organs, but I quickly adapted and focused on the operations.’

For many people in mainland China, circumcision is seen as a shameful body modification and there is a lack of understanding about the procedure.

The winning doctor said: ‘In traditional Chinese beliefs, anything related to ‘sex’ is set aside.’

One participant shared the story of a patient who had extreme pain in his penis during sex, which led to severe self-consciousness. The doctor discovered that the man had penile cancer as a result of his excessive foreskin.

Another told of a patient who believed in 2022 that circumcision would improve his sexual performance, but felt too ashamed to see a doctor.

He bought tools online and tried to perform a procedure at home, which left him with a painful injury.

‘There is a common misconception in China. In fact, circumcision does not necessarily equate to improved sexual function,” says competition host Wang.

Circumcision – the removal of the foreskin – is typically done by stretching the foreskin with tweezers to separate it from the head of the penis and then cutting it off with a scalpel.

In China, the operation in a regular hospital costs between 2,000 and 4,000 yuan – which amounts to 270 to 540 dollars.

The procedure normally takes about half an hour and does not require hospitalization.

About a third of men worldwide have been circumcised for religious, cultural or health reasons.

The number of male circumcisions is relatively low in China. In 2016, it was estimated that 14 percent of Chinese men were circumcised.

In America, the national rate of newborn circumcision has fallen from 64.5 percent in 1979 to 58.3 percent in 2010, but it is still well above 32 percent in Canada and 10 percent in Britain.

At various times in the 19th and 20th centuries, foreskin removal was touted as a cure for paralysis, masturbation or, most recently, infection.

But the medical community is now somewhat cautious.

In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was slammed by the European Medical Community after saying the “benefits” of circumcision “outweigh the risks.”

The AAP guidelines have not changed, but they do say that the benefits are not enough to recommend universal circumcision and therefore it should be a parental decision.