Skateboarding in China is very different than in Ireland, mainly due to the fact that where I come from skate boarding is new and different. Hence, due to this fact, some people can be quite abrasive towards it, seeing it as a pastime for troublemakers rather than an actual sport. However, upon coming to Beijing, which is also quite new to the skateboarding culture, I was welcomed to completely different reaction.
As it is completely new to a lot of people in Beijing, they seem more inquisitive towards to the ‘new form of transport’ rather than shunning it altogether. Old people especially, which is quite strange to me, seem to have a lot of respect for it and often give me smiles and thumbs up as I skate by, which never fails to make a foreigner feel welcome in such a big city.