The Chinese Race "Li" (Chinese Tattoos culture)
By Shengan Gu

Are you interested in tattoos?
There is a race called "Li" in China, where only the women of this race have tattoos from top to bottom, especially the face. This race lives in Hainan Province, South China.

These tattoos are used to distinguish another races, to avoid marrying with another races, to keep the blood original and innocent. Therefore, them have to be done before marriage. They use plants' stings to finish them.The girls usually can get tattoos from 6-20 years old. However, most of women get them from 10-15 years old. According to the BaiKe website, 40% get them at 13 or 14 years old, 20% get them from 16-18years old.

There are five different styles of tattoos to divide Li into five branches. Li can tell the pattern well among the five tribes. distinct symbols stand for unique ancestors.

This tradition ended in 1940s because of culture shock from the other races. Today, only around 2,000 women of Li can be found with tattoos. The youngest is 70 and the oldest is 90. Therefore, curious people who want to witness this tradition, they should visit Hainan Province before this custom dies out.