THE ARMS are those of a tall young man, his muscles toned and skin firm. One is covered in thick sweeps of black Chinese calligraphy from shoulder to wrist. That and the other limbs-around ten in all-are piled in a disembodied heap on Wu Shang's desk. They are models that he commissioned, made of silicon rubber that looks and, crucially for him, feels like real skin. Wu Shang is a tattooist in the coastal city of Wenling. Having seen hundreds of his carefully inked pieces of art walk out of his studio door, he wanted to keep a few to decorate the walls. "Otherwise, all I have is imperfect pictures," he says.These might be the quirkiest tattoos in China, but they are part of a much broader trend. Tattooed arms, backs and legs are fast becoming common sights in the country's biggest cities. The delicate flora and fauna of traditional Chinese art have migrated from rice paper to bodies, carried along by a revolution in techniques. And the innovations pioneered by China's tat-tooists for their swelling market are transforming the art of inked flesh everywhere.
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