The art of tattooing has existed for a long time in China. However, almost during that time, their existence was always associated with social stigma. When it comes to tattoos, people immediately think of prisoners, criminals or gangsters.

“Ten years ago, we still associated tattoos with criminals or gangsters. People who wanted tattoos were afraid of being scrutinized by society,” said Liao Lijia, a 28-year-old tattoo artist at Creation Tattoo shop, Beijing. , speak. “However, tattoo culture has now been accepted by Chinese people, especially Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.”

A series of tattoo shops have sprung up like mushrooms in cities across China, and many people are quickly buying their own equipment to join this increasingly attractive business.

“Over the past three years, the number of our customers has steadily doubled every year,” said Yu Haiyang, Liao’s boss. On average each month, Yu’s shop earns about 10,500 USD. “My income is now 10 times higher than it was 6 years ago.”

Personality

For young people, tattoos are a way for them to assert their individuality and mark memories in life, whether positive or negative.

“I think each tattoo is a symbol for myself, like my name. It’s a special part of my body that makes me different. Express your soul and your world,” Wang said Zi, 28, a fashion designer.

Wang has a hot air balloon tattoo on his shoulder blade. She designed this tattoo herself to always remember her childhood dream of flying in a hot air balloon.

Du Wei, 28 years old, works in information technology in Beijing, has a butterfly tattoo on her chest, a reminder of her lost child.

While Chinese characters are very popular in the West, like footballer David Beckham having a Chinese proverb on his body, most Chinese people like to tattoo English characters and phrases.

The most common words are “love” and “forever”. There are people who choose to tattoo song lyrics like “Imagine” by John Lennon or quotes from the bible.

Da Hua, a tattoo artist, often draws inspiration from Chinese legends. Initially, he practiced tattooing on pieces of pig skin bought at the local market.

Tattoo culture

Asia has long had its own tattoo culture. Japan is famous for its bold and bold tattoo style. Hong Kong is also a bastion of tattoo art. The port city once hosted many British sailors whose tattoo culture mixed traditional Western images such as roses and anchors, with Eastern motifs such as dragons and tigers.

Mainland China is also starting to form its own tattoo style, both classic and modern.

Qiao Zhengfei, a 20-year-old tattoo artist, used to have his own shop in Xiamen city before going to Beijing to expand his business.

She specializes in tattooing complex images with black ink. Qiao is delighted that these tattoos have become a living embodiment of her work.

“It’s an aesthetic choice,” she said. “I can’t do traditional Chinese tattoos like dragons or fish. They don’t resonate with me.”

Business or art

In China, many tattoo shops are just small rooms with curtains and the owners are people covered in tattoos. Some large stores invest in more decoration.

Most Chinese tattoo artists do not want to see their work as an art form, but simply as a business.

Eight years ago, Zhao Liang graduated as a teacher with a major in painting and planned to teach or become a government official.

“However, both of those jobs have low income. Because I have to support my family, I think I need to find a job with enough income to live on.”

One day, he saw a poster advertising tattoos for 50 yuan ($8) each and thought why not try it.

“After that I started working as a tattoo artist. I just saw that my life was getting better and better,” Zhao said.