bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

April Fool’s Day is just around the corner, so perhaps China’s soccer fans decided to act early and make fun of their favourite star.
When David Beckham lifted up his shirt on Sunday at Peking University to reveal a string of Chinese characters on the left side of his torso, China’s young people cheered and screamed for a rare opportunity to see the popular soccer player's body.
His new tattoo, adapted from a traditional Chinese saying, reads: “Life and death are determined by fate, rank and riches decreed by Heaven.”
This quickly inspired fans who decided to do something more creative.
Above all, it seemed an easy Photoshop job, given that so many young Chinese have such great computer skills.
In re-touched photos exchanged online, Beckham was seen displaying Chinese characters with very different meanings.
In one, the tattoo read “Same-sex friends wanted.”
  	
Another said: “Fake ID cards, call this number…”
Other characters referred to current political issues in China. 
“Giving birth to girls and boys are the same,” read an adapted photo in reference to China’s controversial one-child policy.
“Serve the people,” another re-touched photo recalled a famous political slogan from a Mao Zedong’s speech.

Another one was just one character: “Chai” (tear down), the word commonly seen on old buildings marked for demolition.
The original and fake tattoo photos attracted admiring comments from bloggers on China’s social media on Tuesday.
“I understand why so many people are in love with him,” said one comment.
“His one and only flaw is he is married,” wrote another netizen.
Beckham was invited by the China Football Association to visit for a five-day trip as World Ambassador for Chinese Football.


China bans 73 people from all football for life, hits 13 teams with fines, loss of points

Chinese under-23 football team receive rapturous welcome home after AFC Asian Cup run

Chinese under-23 team win credit for ‘igniting new hope’ despite Asian Cup loss to Japan

China football fans set to flock to Saudi Arabia to support under-23 team in Asian Cup final

Chinese Football Association (CFA)

David Beckham's Chinese tattoo inspires amusing Photoshop fakes 

The original photo of Beckham revealing his Chinese tattoo. Photo: Reuters

A Photoshopped version of the tattoo reads: "Fake ID cards, call this number…" Photo: SCMP photos

David Beckham's Chinese tattoo inspires amusing Photoshop fakes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Fans circulate re-touched images after football star shows off new body art

Fans circulate re-touched images after football star shows off new body art