In Shanghai, the strong comeback of skateboarders

2023-04-22 14:00:00

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Time.news OF SHANGHAI. China has been living again since the end of the zero Covid policy and is seeing the development of a new population: skateboard enthusiasts.

By Marie Fourier (in Shanghai)

A skateboarder in Shanghai in July 2019.
© HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP

Published on 04/22/2023 at 2:00 p.m.

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EBetween a bed of cherry blossoms and an industrial-futurist cube of reinforced concrete, a young girl, wearing black mini-shorts and a bucket hat screwed onto her head, glides easily over the slabs. It’s spring in Shanghai and the West Bund promenade is always full. At the same time last year, the Chinese metropolis was very calm. City confined completely to a standstill. But this year, the end of the zero Covid policy combined with mild weather quickly brought onlookers outside and, among them, one species continues to take up more space: skateboarders.

A fashion that arrived in Shanghai about ten years ago, it continues to progress with its dress codes and its infrastructures, which the municipality seems determined to encourage. As in many countries, the practice of skat…