An ethnic Li woman shows her tattoos in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9. Speaking between five dialects, Li women traditionally have tattoos on their face, neck, chest, arms and legs to help distinguish between different groups. Recently, improving living standards and cultural mixing have threatened the 3,000-year-old practice, driving it to the verge of extinction. [Photo/China News Service]

Women from the Li ethnic group show tattoos as they pose in front of a museum in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9, 2018. [Photo/China News Service]

Women from the Li ethnic group show tattoos as they pose in front of a museum in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9, 2018. [Photo/China News Service]

An ethnic Li woman shows her tattoos in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9. [Photo/China News Service]

An ethnic Li woman shows her tattoos in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9. [Photo/China News Service]

An ethnic Li woman shows her tattoos in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9. [Photo/China News Service]

A woman from the Li ethnic group makes brocade in South China’s Hainan province on Jan 9, 2018. [Photo/China News Service]

Combo photo of women from the Li ethnic group. [Photo/China News Service]