June 26, 2008
Skateboarding in China
Not many people know that China is home to the world’s largest skatepark, which covers 12,000 square meters, featuring the world’s biggest vert ramp, world’s largest concrete skate bowl, and a 5,000-seat stadium. While some impressive skating infrastructure can be found in China and the skate scene is steadily growing, the sport is still undergoing growing pains as it becomes a popular sport.
The USC US-China Institute has a good overview of the development of skateboarding in China including a profile of 社会 (’Shehui’) skateboards, one of the first domestic skateboard companies in China. Shehui founder Raph Cooper explains the waves of popularity that skateboarding has experienced in China:
“There is this 10-year fluctuation of popularity where everybody thinks that skateboarding is the coolest thing in the world and then they forget about it for awhile and then it comes flying back up again…So I think it’s sort of part of the natural fluctuation of skateboarding as a whole.”
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