Tattoo Fad Hits Beijing

Colorful flying dragons, soaring phoenix, blooming roses and abstractive patterns are now decorating bodies of Beijing youth.

During scorching days in Beijing, fashionable young men and women boldly show their tattoos which spread across the capital at an amazing speed, the Shanghai-based "Wenhui Daily" reported today.

At the capital's only tattoo parlor near Dongsi in downtown Beijing, a 40-year-old woman surnamed Zhou chose a giant rose to be tattooed on her forearm.

The cost of tattoos ranges from 60 yuan (about 7.23 U.S. dollars) to 300 yuan.

A Hong Kong actress, who is preparing a new photo album, even spent 1,000 yuan for a large pattern displayed on her back, the newspaper said.

The parlor, which started trial operation three weeks ago, has attracted 300 actors, actresses, sports stars and white-collar professionals. Most of them are in their twenties.

There have been mixed responses from Chinese. Some regard it as artistic, full of mystery and aesthetic, others consider it an unhealthy social trend among youth, while still others see it as a passing trend.



People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/