Career in an art that is less than skin deep

Dye with an herbal fragrance makes its mark in China

One of Hafsa Azam's first artistic canvases was her mother's hands. On those hands she dabbed the dye henna, and over the next two decades she would continue to practice that art, become a highly skilled professional thousands of kilometers from her homeland.

In 1998, when she was 6, her family migrated from Pakistan to China, and Azam began primary school. As she acclimatized to her adopted country her love for her own culture never faded, and she continued practicing henna drawing on her family and friends.