I got a new tattoo with my friend and it was interesting because of how its changed. Two years ago I got a tattoo in this same city. My friends and I searched high and low for a whole day before we found a reputable tattoo artist that I didn't think would pass on herpes. Then we offered him a price and he took it. Now two years later, the whole process has changed. On one road, close to where we both live we found three really clean shops with talented artists and system of pricing. The only reason we didn't stop at the fist shop was cuz the prices have gone up!
In America tattoo artists charge by time and usually have a $50 limit, no matter how small the tattoo may be. What I found in China is, tattoo artists usually charge by size, centimeter to be exact, and some have a limit, it seemed 200 RMB was normal (about $30). We were able to talk one guy down to 150 RMB each person (about $25) and mine is about 2in by 1in, not too big, but considering the new system of charge it was a deal!
Other differences are how the tattoo artist went about doing it. This could strictly be his style, not necessarily a Chinese things, but first he drew the tattoo on my arm, himself, then outlined the words with an ink-less tool and eventually filled it all in with black ink. This was so when the ink was wiped away (they wipe away the area every so often to clear the blood and ink) he would still know the basic outline. He also seemed to take way longer than I though was necessary. But there could be a number of factors that play into this, perhaps his tool was not as good as other ones that I've been tattooed with, or maybe its part of the thinking - if you take longer its better work.
All in all it was interesting to see this change in China. To me is was a sign of how the country is changing and the people who were on the fringes are now being able to open a place of business with relative ease. One last interesting thing I noticed was of all the tattoo artists I saw (four in total), only one had noticeable tattoos. I just wanted to make note of it, because from the outset it would appear tattoos are becoming more culturally acceptable, but I wonder if within family circles they still may be considered an an object of shame.
Other differences are how the tattoo artist went about doing it. This could strictly be his style, not necessarily a Chinese things, but first he drew the tattoo on my arm, himself, then outlined the words with an ink-less tool and eventually filled it all in with black ink. This was so when the ink was wiped away (they wipe away the area every so often to clear the blood and ink) he would still know the basic outline. He also seemed to take way longer than I though was necessary. But there could be a number of factors that play into this, perhaps his tool was not as good as other ones that I've been tattooed with, or maybe its part of the thinking - if you take longer its better work.
All in all it was interesting to see this change in China. To me is was a sign of how the country is changing and the people who were on the fringes are now being able to open a place of business with relative ease. One last interesting thing I noticed was of all the tattoo artists I saw (four in total), only one had noticeable tattoos. I just wanted to make note of it, because from the outset it would appear tattoos are becoming more culturally acceptable, but I wonder if within family circles they still may be considered an an object of shame.
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