Jeanne Sun, 32, waits to be interviewed for an online web series exploring China's tattoo culture and the roots of the tradition. Sun, who owns Jeanne Tattoo Studio in Beijing, was 18-years-old when she opened her first tattoo shop in Tianjin. Alison Sullivan/chinadaily.com.cn

Celebrity ink

Inked to compete

The 30-year-old is working with Sun to develop a unique tattoo incorporating his love for lizards and combining it into an abstract image complete with claws, teeth and blood. The tattoo sleeve on his right arm remains a work-in-progress.

Sun said while some get tattoos to be rebellious or replicate celebrities, for her it's about showing personality.

"Just getting a tattoo is easy but you can regret what you choose so quickly. A good tattoo, for me, is something unique," said Jeanne Sun, who flies to see an artist in Switzerland when she needs to get inked. "It represents yourself and everything you like."

Sun Yejie, an independent producer, is exploring China's place in tattoo culture through a series of brief online documentaries. Through the series of 10-minute episodes, Sun said the show explores tattoos in the Middle Kingdom and their origins in history.

He said the emergence of social media in China not only helped expose more people to tattoos but also allowed people, like him, to examine this kind of topic and share it with a broader audience.

"People have more say in their lives then before so I think now is a good time to talk about tattoos," Sun Yejie said.

Wang said although social media is certainly a catalyst, tattoos are embedded in Chinese culture and can be traced back to the Song Dynasty 3,000 years ago.

"Tattoos are an ancient tradition and the reemergence of tattoos among modern society is an interesting phenomenon," Wang said. "Why tattoos are so appealing is a topic that's worth examining."