Career in an art that is less than skin deep

Hafsa Azam shows her work on her own hands.[Photo by Cai Muyuan/ China Daily]

Although henna is much less prevalent in China than in many other countries and lacks similar cultural significance, Chinese seem to have taken a shine to it. The art form itself is fascinating enough to attract beauty-loving consumers in Beijing and is gaining more recognition, particularly among women and girls.

Azam laughs as she recounts how Chinese girls have asked her if henna paste is chocolate or if she has tattooed the designs on her arm.

"I get business mainly from WeChat, because when my customers post my work, that attracts more customers who are interested in this beautiful art.

"Even though most of my customers are expats, I do think this art has wider potential. A few Chinese customers have told me that they want to keep coming back to get henna every two weeks, and that gives me great pleasure."