The top 5 tattoo artists in Shanghai

ATao is the man holding the needle at hip new shop BRASH. It’s the latest venture from the team behind Doc Guthrie’s and a barbershop/tattoo parlour/hangout all in one.

ATao has been tattooing since 2003 and his hugely impressive skills include enormous, intricate works and smaller motifs (including a practice one done himself on his leg). He found his true career callin

Perhaps best described as Asian fusion, ATao’s style draws inspiration from right across the continent, including traditional Japanese and Chinese designs, Southeast Asian artworks and even Polynesian tribal designs. He is meticulously hygienic and gives you the easy confidence that you’re in the hands of a pro. Go and discuss what you want over a beer with the team in BRASH, and get yourself a stylish haircut afterwards.

BRASH 848 Shaanxi Bei Lu, near Changping Lu, Jingan district. Prices start from 1,500RMB.

Fifty’s vibe is an American old school kind of feeling, and we’re digging it. His designs are cheeky, colourful and playful; look out for everything from dancing cowgirls to sailors, Native Americans in headdresses to storks delivering elephants. He says he was first introduced to the arty world of tattooing when working in a coffee shop in Shanghai with a colleague who was a bit of a skater kid and introduced him to the scene.

The rest is history; he retrained as a tattoo artist and now inks merrily out of the Sick Rose Studio. Find him on WeChat at Mictoy.

Sick Rose Studio Bldg 14, 140 Jiashan Lu, near YongKang Lu, Xuhui district.

Yu Xiu works from the Shanghai Giant Panda Tattoo parlour on Baoqing Lu and has been inking people up for an impressive nine years. An enthusiastic artist and painter since he was a child, at 18 he decided to quit his studies to train instead as a tattoo artist, and he has been perfecting his craft ever since. His style includes European and American-inspired realism, including awesome 3D portraits, as well as traditional Asian inspiration and abstract patterns.

Winner of best tribal tattoo at the Shanghai Tattoo Convention, Yi Xiu is always looking for new inspiration, drawing the concept for his winning design from ancient Chinese armour. His prices start from around 1,600RMB per hour, and helpfully the manager at Shanghai Panda is fluent in English and Spanish as well as Chinese, so you don’t need to worry too much about mispronouncing what you want and ending up with a picture of your mother instead of a horse.

Shanghai Giant Panda Tattoo 16 Baoqing Lu, near Fuxing Zhong Lu, Xuhui district. Email giantpandatattoo@gmail.com to make a booking.

The experienced Da Xiong of He Tattoo has been an artist for seven years, learning his craft from veteran tattooist Lao He, the bossman at He Tattoo and a very respected name in the China tattoo scene as the head judge of the National Tattoo Convention.

Da Xiong used to work in the Beijing branch of He Tattoo before relocating a few years ago, and his art school training is clear in his intricate designs, mostly in fine black and grey strokes, from delicate horse figures sitting inside a diamond cube to huge sweeping sleeves of dragons and clouds woven together. We love the studio’s cleanliness and friendly feel, its high-quality imported inks, and the knowledge that you’re in the hands of an affable and enthusiastic professional.

He Tattoo Studio 736 Huangpi Nan Lu, near Jianguo Zhong Lu, Huangpu district. Da Xiong charges 1,500RMB per hour.

If you want a tattoo done in the morning, Liu Kun isn’t your guy. Normally surfacing at some point well into the afternoon, he is definitely a nocturnal worker (we wake him up when we stop by). Operating as a solo artist from his Changle Lu lane house, his work includes stunningly realistic portraiture in black and grey shading.

Book in advance, and expect a chilled-out vibe, an achingly cool soundtrack and some awesome tats to take away with you.

Hit him up by phone, or on WeChat, at 130 7213 3372 for inquiries and address details.