The origin of tattoo art in China dates to the Song Dynasty when criminal groups were tattooed to show their status. Like Japan, we have a long history of tattooing, but Japan does a better job of protecting its traditions. Right now, about 300,000 people make tattoos in China, but only about 10 percent of them are real artists.

There is, by my estimation, exactly one advantage to getting inked in the back of a Chinese laowai bar: the characters will probably be right. Fithi Garza decided to tattoo his late brother’s name in Chinese on his arm. He did it in a back room in Dalian’s Nepalese Bar.