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Thrashin in Shenzhen

Thrashin’ in Shenzhen
by Ray H

Among the shops of Shenzhen’s electronics district of HuaQiangBei, one can find more than just discount iPods and pirated Windows XP software. A short walk down the street will lead to Fat Tongues, the city’s sole skateboarding specialty store. Full of shoes and boards and hip hop themed t-shirts, it’s easy to forget that this is China, and an expat might mistake themselves as back in their hometown’s suburban mall.

The owner of the shop goes by Xiao Feng – meaning Little Wind – but like most Chinese he also has a Western name that’s easier to pronounce. His expat friends call him “Thrasher,” he’s twenty-five, in debt, and determined to give his scene a voice in Shenzhen.

Running his own business since he was nineteen, he found local investors and started his own place. “When I started I had no information. Just for three years, push, push, and push more.” Thrasher, who taught himself English from watching American movies, pessimistically describes his industry with a sense of humor. “Business is so bad. (I had) no experience.” And he’s not optimistic about the future. “(Most) only come to my shop to buy shoes.”

Shenzhen had no specialty shops of the kind when he began skating at twelve, and he had to buy his wooded skateboards at the sporting goods market. “Shitty boards,” he says. Even just a decade ago China was decidedly less open, and his parents were not supportive. “I have to hide my skateboard, (when I lived) at home. The culture here . . . the parents stop you. ‘You can’t.’ ‘It’s dangerous.’” Cynical of China’s government and culture, he’s not shy to criticize. “Education sucks. Everyone (is) brainwashed.”

But Thrasher also makes money as a professional skater, sponsored by Gift Skateboards and Shanghai-based Quicksilver. Hopeful to get an Adidas contract soon, he periodically films his own videos for the sponsors. And while there may be no official skate-park in the city, that’s never stopped kids from skating where they want anywhere else. “At the park, Book City . . . not one spot.” Shenzhen, full of young buildings and marble parking lots, even boasting a naive police force that has yet to give out tickets for loitering, has quickly become a haven for skaters across the country. “Every pro-skater comes to Shenzhen,” Thrasher smirks the Shenzhen local.

But when it comes to getting shredded on the street – injuries being a source of price to skaters the world over – Thrasher isn’t a fan of the average Chinese citizen’s attitude. “Chinese people have no respect. If you do something different, they just watching. When I fall, 80% people laugh at me. They don’t fucking respect. ‘You try,’ I tell to them. ‘Motherfucker,’” he laughs.

Still, his shop has survived for the last six years, and is even expanding with plans to build a mini-ramp on the property. While it isn’t easy to set up plans with China’s notoriously bureaucratic local government, it’s obvious that Thrasher isn’t in it for the business glory. China’s economic future may depend on businessmen and entrepreneurs raising the national GDP, but the culture on a whole may be better served by values deeper than high profit margins. Some are in because they love what they do, and that can be enough. “I don’t give a shit,” Thrasher proudly rips. “I just skate.”