CHINA

Skaters in South China used to envy their counterparts in Shanghai, once home to the world’s largest skate space. Now, the shoe is on the other foot. Just a few months ago, the City of Flowers trumped its northern cousin with the opening of a 17,000-square-meter space dedicated to kickflips and grinds.Situated in the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre in Panyu District, Guangzhou University City Skate Park is roughly the size of four football fields, complete with full pipes, slalom runs, pools and ramps, as well as an indoor skating area. Best of all are the vast stretches of concrete bowls and the professionally designed, contest-level zones for street skating. Catering to pros and rookies, it’s not only free entry but also lighted for use at night.

In addition to skating, the park also has a BMX racing ramp and a rock climbing wall, so that visitors can assay more than one extreme sport.



Different parts are designed for different abilities. The entry-level practice area is built with half-pipes of various heights. The intermediate practice area adds small bowls and launch ramps to the range of U-shaped runways.

In the advanced area, there are large bowls and high-speed slides. Skaters are recommended to wear proper protection before skating in this thrill-seekers’ playground.