HONG KONG — Taxi drivers in a northwestern Chinese language metropolis not too long ago acquired an unusually blunt authorities directive: Eliminate your tattoos.
The order got here in August as transportation officers within the metropolis, Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, rolled out a marketing campaign to spruce up the picture of native cabdrivers. Ostensibly, the no-tattoo rule was meant to maintain some passengers from feeling uncomfortable.
It additionally coincided with nationwide efforts to dampen the rising recognition of tattoos amongst youthful generations, who’re more and more embracing the once-stigmatized physique artwork.
However one driver in Lanzhou needed to maintain the ink, and took to a web-based authorities discussion board to ship a well mannered, however pointed, rebuttal to the town’s order.
“When making use of for our driver allow, we submit paperwork exhibiting that we’ve no felony data,” wrote the motive force, who was not recognized within the submit and couldn’t be reached for remark. “Our tattoos don’t flip us into unhealthy guys and criminals.”
The motive force famous that eradicating tattoos was painful and costly, requiring repeat visits to wash traces of everlasting ink from the pores and skin by means of laser know-how. The method may depart scars and pale patches of coloration.
The federal government’s order was merely discriminatory, the motive force mentioned.
However in a public response on Sept. 7, Lanzhou’s transportation committee didn’t budge. With out providing proof, it mentioned that “massive tattoos on drivers could trigger misery to passengers who’re girls and youngsters.”
The committee additionally insisted that “drivers who have already got tattoos ought to take away them by means of surgical procedures to the best extent attainable.”
It was unclear how the tattoo removing could be enforced or who would pay for it. When reached by phone on Tuesday, representatives of the Lanzhou authorities declined to remark.
The committee’s response to the motive force was broadly reported throughout China, reviving an age-old debate in a rustic the place tattoos are being more and more embraced by youthful Chinese language however are nonetheless shunned by those that contemplate them a mark of criminality.
Tattoo tradition started to flourish in China because the nation opened as much as the West forward of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Western influences and popular culture resonated with Chinese language audiences. Extra entertainers and athletes started displaying tattoos in televised appearances, together with Lin Dan, a badminton Olympic champion who bared his ink-stained arms throughout competitions.
Tattoo parlors, schools and conventions multiplied. Some tattoo artists, similar to Chen Jie and Joey Pang, pioneered a style that evokes Chinese ink paintings with watercolor-like strokes. Others had been influenced by a fragile new type of South Korean mini-tattoos, distinguished by pinprick-thin outlines and pastel colours.
In Japan, the place tattoos have lengthy been related to organized crime syndicates just like the yakuza, rules on tattooing have steadily loosened. Many bathhouses and sizzling springs nonetheless bar tattooed guests in an try and exclude gang members. However in a boon for tattoo parlors and practitioners, the country ruled last week that tattooing didn’t require a medical license.
In China, the growing acceptance of tattoos has been resisted by conservative gatekeepers. Television censors blurred images of tattoos, in addition to cleavage and males’s earrings, in 2017 and in 2019. And Chinese language sports activities officers ordered soccer players with tattooed arms to wear long sleeves throughout the Asian Cup within the United Arab Emirates final yr.
Lanzhou’s directive could also be among the many cruelest for taxi drivers.
Changchun, a Chinese language metropolis within the northeastern province of Jilin, not too long ago issued its personal ban on tattoos for cabdrivers — however merely advised them to cowl them up, to not take away them. (It additionally advised drivers to not smoke, to maintain their automobiles clear and to activate the air con whereas ferrying passengers.)
The motive force in Lanzhou who went public with discontent mentioned Changchun’s method was preferable, and advised that the native authorities modify its directive.
“I perceive that our leaders wish to current our trade in a extra optimistic gentle,” the motive force wrote. “The aim of telling us to take away our tattoos is in order that our passengers don’t see them. Masking them up achieves the identical end result.”
After the pushback, Lanzhou’s transportation committee mentioned drivers might conceal massive tattoos on their arms and necks, however advised that it could be a brief resolution. “Those that are unable to take away them fully in the interim ought to cowl them up,” the committee mentioned in its reply to the motive force.
Different on-line response to the episode has been blended. In a casual ballot on social media asking 3,000 girls whether or not they would journey with taxi drivers sporting tattoos, 850 mentioned they might, and 1,000 mentioned they might not.
A male web consumer mentioned on Weibo, a Chinese language microblogging platform, that although he revered the artwork of tattooing, he would develop into nervous if a tattooed driver took a flip down a abandoned highway.
Some mentioned the Lanzhou rule merely mirrored outdated stereotypes about tattoos. A 29-year-old web consumer in Wuhan, Diane Yang, wrote on Weibo: “If the higher-ups don’t just like the look of tattoos, please don’t use girls as an excuse. Tattoos shouldn’t be thought-about the manifestations of unwell intentions.”
“It’s very regular,” Li Mingjun, a 21-year-old pupil in Beijing, mentioned in an interview about physique ink. “You may’t cease somebody from making a dwelling simply due to a private desire.”
She mentioned she needed a tattoo for herself.
Claire Fu contributed analysis from Beijing.
