It is not difficult to find Lei Yun's 6-square-meter makeup room. There are several handwritten paper boards leading to her old quadrangle across the street from the gate of the Central Academy of Drama.

She is applying the foundation on a 17-year-old girl's face, watched anxiously by the girl's parents and a few others waiting in the room.

It is the busiest week for the makeup artist, who has rented the studio temporarily for the annual arts examination. Lei has been applying makeup on wannabe actors and actresses, all dreaming of becoming the next Fan Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming.