Infamous Tea & Honey show
Kiefer Sutherland
Jack Bauer’s alter ego has the Chinese symbol for power, 力 (lì), on his right shoulder. If there was ever any doubt as to his bionic Bauer power, the volatile actor, who has done time for DUI and once head-butted a fashion designer at a Manhattan party, also has ‘I Trust You To Kill Me’ marked in Icelandic runes on his right forearm, while his buff biceps are stenciled with barbwire, a crest and sword and the Sutherland clan armband.
Julia Roberts
Nothing says ‘love’ like matching tats. Once engaged to Sutherland, America’s sweetheart has an identical 力 tattoo (with the addition of a twee heart) on her left shoulder blade. The tat survived, but the engagement did not – Roberts broke it off three days before the wedding after discovering Sutherland was sleeping with a stripper. The experience didn’t put her off Chinese tats altogether – she has a dragon tramp stamp encircled by the names of her three children with current husband Danny Moder.
Angelina Jolie
Angie’s Chinese tats were doomed from the get-go. Her first was 死 (sǐ), meaning death. Then she and ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller both got 勇 (yǒng), meaning ‘courage.’ Since then Jolie has forgone characters for Chinese dragons. She used to have a dragon tramp stamp, now covered up by a big Bengal tiger done in Thailand. Her second dragon was supposedly tattooed on her pelvic area while drunk in Amsterdam. That dragon has now been smothered by a fat black cross and the text “What nourishes me, destroys me” in Latin. Now, only one little dragon remains on her left bicep, where she branded ex-husband number two Billy Bob Thornton’s name and promptly removed it after they split, saying, “I’ll never be stupid enough to have a man’s name tattooed on me again.” No dragon for you then, Bradley.
Cher
The diva's diva is currently in the process of having all her tats removed, including the Chinese character 力 (seems to be a favorite among Hollywood stars…) on her bicep, a black orchid below her bikini line and a bunch of flowers sprawling across her butt cheeks, (famously?) unveiled in her ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ music video. Oh the irony…
Megan Fox
Token hot babe from Transformers also has a tattoo of 力, which is etched on her nape. It shares the terrain of her skin with a tattoo of her idol, Marilyn Monroe. What teenage boys the world over would do to get their grubby little paws on those, eh?
Justin Timberlake
A marionette dangles from a red rope wreathed in flames on his wrist, a reminder of the scorching success of 'N Sync’s puppet-themed album, No Strings Attached. As if a pyromaniac Pinocchio tat wasn’t dumb enough, he hit an off-key note with his 曲 (qǚ) tattoo. Meaning song in Chinese, it also happens to mean bent, crooked or wrong. Cry me a river…
Britney Spears
The former Mickey Mouse Clubber sports tats from both the Magic Kingdom and Middle Kingdom. A fairy flitters on her lower back, a butterfly perches on a vine on her left foot and, channeling forest nymphs, she chose a small daisy to encircle her toe. To round out her enchanting ink collection, Britney paid for 奇 (qí), thinking it meant mysterious, and a tiny flower to be embossed on her pubic bone because ever since her ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ dropped, the action around her pubic area has remained utterly secretive… ?! It turns out her private bits aren’t so clandestine after all (we’ve all seen them for one) and qí isn’t so mysterious – it means queer or odd. So rather apt after all.
Matthew Fox
Before he starred in TV show Lost, Fox already had his tattoo 鹰击长空 (yīng jī chángkōng), extracted from a poem written by Chairman Mao which loosely translates as “eagles fly up in the sky.” Writers of Lost were so enthralled by his ink job that, instead of covering it up, they decided to work it into the show’s plot. An entire episode was devoted to unraveling its meaning, which led to widespread derision among the show’s fans.
Mike Tyson
While serving a prison sentence in the ‘90s, Iron Mike read Chairman Mao’s work and developed a huge admiration for China’s Great Helmsman. After prison, Tyson got an oversized tattoo of Mao’s face on his arm, and reportedly remains an avid collector of his writings. In 2006, he visited Mao’s mausoleum in Beijing and later said of the experience, “I felt really insignificant next to the remains of Chairman Mao” – probably the only person Tyson has ever felt inferior to.
David Beckham
When Becks’ former team, LA Galaxy, traveled to Hong Kong, the fetching footballer wanted a souvenir. He returned to the US with the Chinese parable “Death and life have determined appointments / Riches and honors depend upon heaven” etched in traditional characters from his left nipple down to his groin. Heaven-sent riches would explain the whopping US$32.5 million deal old Golden Balls signed with the Galaxy when he left Real Madrid.
Stephen Baldwin
The youngest of the Baldwin brothers is more known for his tyrannical Christian preaching on reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother than his acting. Last season he read aloud the Bible to his housemates and claimed he’d rather see his daughter shot to death than renounce her faith. When simple English wasn’t enough to prove his undying religious zeal, he tattooed 信 (xìn), the Chinese symbol for ‘believe,’ between his shoulder blades. His body is a temple.
Holly Valance
The Australian model/actress/singer/has-been has 爱 (ài) tattooed on the right side of her bikini line and a red number eight on her right ankle. She is currently dating a UK real-estate billionaire who she says “spoils her rotten.” She found true ai and her beau is loaded. Guess there could be something in lucky number eight after all.
Nick Carter
In the ‘90s, Nick Carter was the 'cute one' of pop band the Backstreet Boys. Since then, though, he’s scrounged for fame with a limp solo career and lousy reality TV. Besides a burning desire for fame, Carter has always had the ocean in his heart and launched the Nick Carter Ocean Campaign to raise environmental awareness of the sea. Seeing himself as the protector of all things blue and briny, he got tattoos of a shark and 海神 (hǎishén), the Chinese translation for Poseidon.
According to Sports Illustrated, the proportion of NBA players with Chinese tattoos is 35 percent. The exception? Clean-cut Chinese players Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian remain unblemished.
Marcus Camby
Camby, who broke into the NBA in 1996, claims, “I was one of the originators of the Chinese characters. When I was a rookie, I don’t remember a lot of people having them.” Camby chose 族 (zú), meaning clan, and 勉 (miǎn), meaning to urge or to strive for, tattoos on his left bicep because, “It seemed like a no-brainer. I want to be the best. And I have a lot of love for my family.” And why Chinese, exactly? “I was into a lot of Chinese flicks. A lot of kung fu movies.”
Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson, one of the top scorers in NBA history, has a big fat 忠 (zhōng) on the left side of his neck, which means loyalty. His tat also can also be read as 中心 (zhōngxīn), which means 'center', as in ‘center of the universe’ or ‘center of attention.’ We’re sure this former 76ers star wouldn’t mind that interpretation, either.
Shawn Marion
Having signed a 5-year US$39 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks, Shawn Marion is a very rich man with a very stupid tattoo. When he first entered the NBA, his bionic athleticism impressed sports critics so much they christened him ‘The Matrix.’ Marion had his nickname translated into Chinese and scribbled down his right leg. We have no idea who his translator is, but he ended up with the inky gibberish 魔鸟樟 (móniǎozhāng) which means ‘demon bird camphor.’
Chris Anderson
The Denver Nugget Chris Anderson, aka Birdman, kicked off his career in 2000 playing for the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons in China, where he thought he inked himself with characters meaning ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ His 好 (hǎo) tattoo is all good, but 恶 (è) doesn’t translate so well, reading more like ‘nauseated.’ The dual meanings, however inaccurate, nicely sum up his character and performances – he was banned from the NBA for two years for drug violations in 2006.
