Foot binding was the act of wrapping a three- to five-year old girl's feet with binding so as to bend the toes under, break the bones and force the back of the foot together. ... She wrapped her feet in long strips of silk cloth. From that day on, foot binding was often associated with the term, golden lotus.

Does Chinese foot binding hurt?

For 1,000 years, tiny, curved feet were considered the ultimate standard of feminine beauty in China, leading about 3 billion Chinese womento bind their feet during this time, despite the fact that foot binding was a long, extremely painful process that resulted in severely deformed feet for life [source: Ross].

Do the Chinese still bind their feet?

Footbinding was first banned in 1912, but some continued binding their feet in secret. Some of the last survivors of this barbaric practice are still living in Liuyicun, a village in Southern China's Yunnan province.