Sign of the times

The irony here is that tattoos have become a mark of collective identity, rather than unique personality.

One of the few NBA players to have lived in China, the Denver Nuggets' Chris Anderson briefly played for the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons in 2000.

He wanted the character for "good" on one arm and "bad" on the other - accurately summing up his character and performances. Unfortunately, something got lost in translation as the character for bad also means "nausea".

He's not the only one to get it wrong. Shawn Marion of the Toronto Raptors calls himself "The Matrix" and wanted to tell the world by inscribing it in Mandarin on his leg. But to Chinese it reads: "Demon bird camphor".

Pop star Justin Timberlake has the character "qu", which means "song", but also "bent, crooked or wrong".

Clearly, most Western celebrities who opt for Chinese tattoos don't know exactly what the characters represent. They want them because they are exotic, different and therefore cool.

Take the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, for example. Among the singer's many tats is a shark on his left bicep, accompanied by the characters "hai shen" for Poseidon. Mixing Chinese characters and Greek mythology is unique, even if it doesn't really signify anything.

Britney Spears had a flower with the character "mystery" stenciled near her navel, probably thinking that in Chinese it would be even more enigmatic. And she's got a point. To most people in her entertainment circle the characters are a mystery.

Tattoos have never been more popular. The first series of hit TV show Prison Break revolved around the puzzle of tats worn by actor Wentworth Miller and made him a star.

In the cult TV program, Lost, the lead role played by Matthew Fox has a four character poem written by Mao Zedong, which translates as: "Eagles high up, cleaving the space." Fox's screen life followed art when the show's plot incorporated the tattoo, which he had inked before filming began.