I just had the pleasure of visiting the newly-minted Woodward Beijing skateboard and freestyle BMX park that opened its doors to China this summer. Although it is a pain in the ass to get down to the southern sixth ring road, Woodward Beijing truly is a state of the art facility and will hopefully nurture a new wave of talented skateboarders and freestyle BMX riders in China. These sports are just taking hold in cities and major brands like Vans, who sponsored the evening by driving down two busloads of kids for free, can only see rising interest amongst the growing pool of urban hipsters and punks around the country. Even though I didn’t get in on the action myself, I was greatly intrigued by the possibilities of the giant foam box pit that freestyle BMX riders used for practicing aerials. Next time I might find myself rocketing skyward on a bike. For now the only problem I can foresee is consistently getting kids that far outside the city to partake in everything Woodward Beijing has to offer. On the up side, large-scale summer camps are being planned which is the real bread and butter for Woodward in other locations around the world.
