Flowers such as roses and daisies are blossoming on the arms and shoulders of young trendy women, who line up to get these colored paintings plastered on them in front of beauty saloons on busy streets.

But things were different last year when the new fashion first landed on Nanchang, said the owner of a saloon in the Women's Center on Zhongshan Road.

"Few people at that time would be ready to put this stuff on their bodies," said the owner, who was too busy dealing with customers to give her name.

According to her business record, most women have chosen to paint delicate pictures on either their arms or their shoulders.

Carefully watching how the beautician painted on her shoulder, an office lady who gave her surname as Wang said that it is in the nature of women to attract public attention with beautiful decorations. Besides, at only five yuan (60 US cents) a time, body painting is affordable for everyone.

However, medical experts warn that chemical ingredients in the paint might harm the skin. Dermatologist Yuan Yanxia, of the Provincial People's Hospital, said that body painting is not suitable for everyone, and skin allergies as a result of applying body paints are common.

(People's Daily May 31 2002)