Edited and translated by Gao Yinan, People's Daily Online
Liu Jinlong, 45, has been perusing his dream of being a tattoo artist for 12 years. Liu used to be an ironworker in a state-owned steel enterprise in Shanxi province. Withstanding pressure from family and friends, Liu gave up his secure job to join in the world of tattoo. His father did not give consent to this bald decision until the last moment of his life. Liu insisted that tattoo is what he has dreamed of since he was a little boy.
During his 12-year-persistence of becoming a tattoo artist, he witnessed the change of Chinese people’s attitude towards tattoo. Tattooists once isolated by conservative Chinese people,is now a new fashion among the young. Liu Jinlong hopes that more and more Chinese people will see tattooists and tattoo coterie in a more rational perspective; through his own efforts, the tattoo coterie would be safe, sanitary and of formal system in Shanxi province.