2007 China International Tattoo Arts Convention
-Direct Coverage from Beijing-
by Damian McGrath, Tattoos.com

On the Road with Lyle Tuttle: Day One

Lyle Tuttle and I arrived in Beijing the Monday of the show. We were greeted by the organizer, Kisen at the airport with other artists and translators. A camera crew was rolling to document the event. At first it seemed a bit much, but to the Kisen and the tattooists of Beijing it is a momentous event. They want to record the arrival of all artists from outside China and give us all the same warm reception.

This is the second international tattoo convention in China and one can feel they are a part of modern tattoo history here after Kisen explains why Chinese artists are so excited later at dinner.

Not that long ago, a negative stigma was still associated here with tattooed people, just as it was and sometimes still is in the western world. He tells us years ago another tattooist in China had a convention and the government sent in the police and shut it down before it could even get off the ground. But now, in the new Beijing and indeed the new China all that has changed.

Artists from the US, Asia and Europe arrive with their equipment in hand at the airport and even check off on their customs card that they are there on business as the Customs police stamp passports, smile and wave us all through effortlessly. I am here to document the whole thing for tattoos.com and was not even looked at twice. When the police block six lanes of traffic to usher us across the walkway to to the airport parking lot I am astounded.

This is the new Beijing and the new China. The Olympics are less than a year away and the city bustles with construction everywhere. Traffic is maddening and on par with any large metropolis, with one exception. The double accordion buses, taxis, and endless cars battle with old rickshaws, street sweepers, (men with straw brooms in orange jumpsuits!) three wheelers and construction workers pushing wheelbarrows. You look around anytime and it is a mixture of old and new. Giant neon signs, and ancient temples dot the cityscape sharing the view with overpasses crammed full of commuters. High rises surround huge boulevards giving way to narrow alleyways where you're bobbing and weaving through mopeds, cyclists and pedestrians only to end up back on a huge boulevard once again. This cycle repeats endlessly, ancient and modern, prosperous and poor, giant buildings and shanty alleys. All seamlessly piled one after the other endlessly.

The new China has opened itself to the world with the olympics. But that was not always the way here says Kisen.
"If you want to do anything new in China, it is important that you are friends with the government" he grins.

But now the government view is that China has a tattoo history and culture. The last tattooed women of the Dulong tribe have had a tradition of facial tattoos for centuries and will come to the convention and meet modern artists. Kisen Explains that now the government approves.They no longer see it as markings on criminals and nar-do-wells, but as a part of Chinese heritage, that they want to share with the modern world. So I am both sad and thrilled to look into the disappearing past of this cultures unique tattoo history then turn the page to what is doubtless a bright future.

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On the road from Beijing, with Lyle Tuttle, by Damian Mcgrath : Day 02