Jeff Han on Skateboarding in China: Developments, Differences with the West and Brand Involvement

Following up on our previous coverage of skateboarding in China, we now point you to a China Youthology interview of Jeff Han, the founder of FLY skateboard shop in Shanghai.  Jeff has been a huge force in the China skateboard scene, starting FLY, Gift Skateboards, Cart Wheels and Skatehere.com, an online platform for skaters in China.  Nike SB even launched a limited edition ‘Fly Milk Blazer’ shoe (pictured above) as a tribute to Jeff and FLY.

The interview with Jeff touches on the skateboarding demographic in China, the differences between skateboarding in China and other countries, brand involvement in the sport and Jeff’s thoughts on the future of skateboarding in China.

Here, Jeff speaks about the differences between skateboarding’s image in China and other countries:

China has no heritage of street culture. There is little public space for the youth to play freely. And the perception of SB as being too ‘underground’ (rebellious, individual, dangerous) has been a big barrier for the development of the sports in China.

In the recent years, the ‘image’ of SB starts to be more ‘healthy’, ‘sunny’ and ‘stylish’. As a matter of fact, SB culture in Japan is largely different from the west. Japanese skaters hardly are as baggy, ‘dirty’ and ‘washed’ as US skaters. They prefer a look and style that is neater, sunny, and premium…

Visit China Youthology’s blog to read the full interview.