Write-up by Brian Aragon
Photos by Colin Li
We arrived at Woodward around 2pm and upon entering I saw a large number of skaters already deep into their session. After taking pictures and signing autographs I put my skates on and began my session with all the awesome locals. Though Woodward Beijing does not compare in size to the Woodward facilities in the US there is still plenty to skate. There is one huge hanger that includes: street course, mini ramp, bowl/spine ramp and a foam/resi/launch box area. Outside of the hangar there is a street plaza that has some unique features and is rather large. During my time at Woodward I skated a bit of everything and had a good time interacting with the locals even if our only communication was done by laughing and smiling. Interestingly, today at Woodward inline skaters outnumbered bikers as well as skateboards which was a nice change!
As the day came to an end we made our way back to the center of Beijing to have dinner with many of the locals who made it to the session today. I can’t say enough about the hospitality of the Chinese and how welcoming and genuine they truly are. Beijing food is delicious and even though many of these people may be slender they can eat in massive amounts. I tried to keep up with continuous rounds of food but the skinniest kid sitting next to me showed me how they do it in Beijing. After being defeated we said our goodbyes and called it a day.
-Brian Aragon
Check out all live-updates of this tour here.
