Joe at 世纪广场

This photo was taken in 2008 at 世纪广场 in Jilin, China. 世纪广场 translates to Century Square. In this picture, Joe Deprey is skating under Chairman Mao. Joe was asked to stop skating so close to the dear Mao Ze Dong by a security guard. Mao appears on every denomination of currency in Mainland China.

Covered Chairman Mao

This photo was taken in 2009 at Century Square in Jilin, China. The normal skate spot had been largely walled off due to renovations to Chairman Mao's statue for the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 2009. You can see the statue covered in red(of course!) fabric behind the wall. Century Square's Chairman Mao statue is relatively small compared with ones in other cities I have seen. One must wonder what Chairman Mao would have thought of skateboarding.

Skating the Great Wall

This photo was taken in 2008 at the Great Wall of China in Dandong, China. The skater in this photo is my friend, Stephen Kovaz. The Great Wall or Chang Cheng, as it is called in Chinese was originally erected to protect China from unwanted visitors and nomadic hordes. Including all of it's branches, the Great Wall is 5500 miles in length and contrary to popular belief is not easily visible from space. The construction of the Great Wall started in 5th century B.C. and various emperors added to the wall until around 1620.

Kickflipping an Ice Block

This photo was taken in 2008 at Century Square in Jilin, China. Skateboarding was introduced in China in the late 1980's and has gained popularity in bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai. It is estimated that there are 50,000 skateboarders in the country of 1.4 billion. Shanghai is home to SMP Skatepark, which is the world's largest skatepark. SMP is 12,000 square meters in size and contains the world's largest vert ramp and the world's largest concrete skating bowl. China is also the birthplace of the popular skate brands Fly Streetwear and The People's Republic of Skateboarding.