Beijing's Gnarliest Spots For Street Skateboarding

Didu Hui | Mar 19, 2022 5:54 pm | Add a comment | 902 reads

This content comes courtesy of Dingdu Hui Beijing.

If there's any sport with the most urban of vibes, it's skateboarding. Although you can see it just about anywhere these days, there's no question that this young sport was born in the city.

Half a century ago, a generation of skateboarders would wander the streets in search of fountains, benches, stairs, railings, and other topographic fixtures to perform various tricks with.

In a city as enormous as Beijing, of course, there's going to be plenty of rich terrain. Today, we'd like to introduce some of the capital's most well-known skating obstacles. You may have frequently passed them by without a second thought, but here we present them from a skater's point of view.

First, however, we need to introduce a few basic obstacles and tricks:

In specialized skate parks, these (and more complex) obstacles are designed for a good skating experience. But on the street and in public squares, most skating obstacles are not intentional but need to be discovered by the skaters. So, to a skater, the whole city starts looking a little different.

Through the pain and sweat of generations of Beijing skaters, a few classic spots have become well known as good for skateboarding. Below are just a few.

But there are many other spots besides! Take a look at the maps below to find a good skating spot near you, or head out on an adventure to find one you really like.