Tattoos in Beijing

Editor's Note: There was once a time when a negative stigma was attached to people who embraced tattoos. Today in China, that stigma is gone and acceptance of tattoos is steadily growing, especially in tier one cities.

Tattoo lover Zhu Zhuo shows a reporter from China.org.cn his first tattoo, which is of a traditional Chinese dragon. [Photo by Li Xiaohua/China.org.cn]

Zhu Zhuo was 27 when he got his first tattoo and joined the world of tattoo lovers. "I thought about it for a long time, like most people do when they are planning to get their first tattoo. I chose a dragon that I had liked since I was a kid."

The dragon he chose embodied Chinese culture, and six years later Zhu is still happy with his decision. Zhu Zhuo thinks that traditional Chinese tattoos are not very popular among today's youth; instead, he thinks that youngsters have been leaning more towards art pieces that reflect their personalities.

In America, some people get the names of their loved ones who have passed away tattooed on them. "We have this trend but for the living rather than the dead. For example, my friend has a tattoo of his living mother; it is a way for his mother to always be with him and protect him." Ji Ri, another tattoo enthusiast, got a tattoo of his ex-girlfriend's name when they were still together. "My current girlfriend and I joke about it, but I will get it covered up soon because I don't like the heart that surrounds it."

It took at least 50 hours to complete the three tattoos that Zhou has on his body. Because it is a process that requires the completion of small parts of a design at a time, it took a total of one year to complete one of his pieces. When asked whether he ever worried that a piece wouldn't turn out the way he wanted it to, he responded, "A tattoo is like everything else. If it is cheap, it won't be good, so prices and quality are my two major concerns when I get a tattoo. You can look at an artist's finished work and know whether they are good or not."