China is quite an amazing place, I had so much fun. I could write a short book on all the experiences I had, but I'll do my best to keep it short. Just one anecdote from each city I visited.
First, Shenzhen. Located in Southeast China, this is the sin city of the country and the capital of all that is counterfeit. I bought fake watches in a hidden room of a sketchy building, and rode in a Bicycle Carnival. There was a skatepark there, but I had a lot more fun riding the mountain bike track. It was made up of all kinds of platforms and bridges.
Next was Guanghou. This city is home to an all BMX shop called ZT Bikes. The shop is pretty sick, and had tons of stuff. The highlight of being in Guanghou was definitely the 'BMX Party' they had for me. This pretty much meant that I walked out of my hotel room and was greeted by 25 riders all ready to ride around the city. The huge crew took to the streets. Between riding their local spots and bunnyhopping resting rollerbladers, they treated me to the infamous Guanghou Noodle dish.
Last, and most anticipated for me, Shanghai. Home of the world's largest skatepark, the SMP Skatepark. Ask anyone who has ever been there, this place is amazing. You'd need months to find all the lines in this place, but even the simplest lines were fast and fun. The crazy thing was, there was nobody there. I had a private session in a skatepark that literally spanned acres. I also got to see the Haro factory just outside Shanghai. What an experience that was. I've never seen so many bike all being painted, put together, boxed ect.
It was an amazing trip to say the least. Big thanks to Vincent Wu for translating just about everything for me and Cnbmx.com and circlefoto.com for taking photos while I was there. I will definitely visit China again some day.
-Marcus
