Over the last weekend, more than 4,000 people flooded into the Shanghai International Art Festival of Tattoos, now in its second annual edition. It was hard to find anyone at the Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center without a tattoo during the festival.

Many of the visitors had a new tattoo done on site from the 130 or so participating tattooists from China, Japan and the US - more often than not, their illustrations spread over entire backs or arms.

A woman shows the tattoo on her leg to a visitor to the festival. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Sun Wen, a 30-year-old photographer and tattoo enthusiast, told the Global Times that he had always wanted to have a tattoo but finally made up his mind when he visited the inaugural festival last year and found a tattoo artist that matched his ideas. Over the past year, he has had three tattoos.

This man will always stand out in a crowd. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

"So it's nice to come back and see this festival getting even bigger, and perhaps find someone interesting who could be my next tattooist," Sun said.

Liu Bengao, the owner of a Suzhou tattoo shop, told the Global Times that the festival was also educational in the sense that the main organizer, the China Association of Tattoo Artists, offered free tutorials for new tattooists on site and arranged for participating foreign tattoo artists to share their expertise and experience with their local counterparts.

A foreign tattoo artist works on a volunteer. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

"Though I would say that the gap between China and countries like Japan and the US is now small, this is nevertheless a great opportunity for my young tattoo artists to look around at how other people are doing their jobs, and learn and grow," Liu said.

Some enthusiasts select religious themes. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

One of the festival highlights was a competition where volunteers, some wearing just G-strings, were tattooed by contestants.

A visitor checks out this work of art. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Hu Deliang, the head of the China Association of Tattoo Artists' Shanghai Branch, said it has been estimated that the number of tattoo artists in China would reach 100,000 by 2017, and he expects more than 10,000 visitors at future festivals.

Modern tattoo artists have a vast array of colors available. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Some of the needles used in this work are displayed. Photo: Yang Hui/GT