Brett Stepanik
Team Breeze was founded last year to introduce Chinese students to the joys of skateboarding.
Standing on a skateboard for the first time in her life, Bing Sun radiates joy. She’s taking it slow as she coasts down State Street, but it’s still thrilling. “When I was young, this was not so popular,” says Sun, a native of China and a visiting scholar at UW-Madison. “Then I got married, had a daughter — I had no time to play.”
In her 40s, Sun is probably the oldest member of Team Breeze, a new skateboard and rollerblade crew founded last year by UW-Madison students. “We call it Team Breeze because we move like the wind,” says co-founder Runzhou Lai, a senior from Hangzhou. The group started with four members but now has a group chat with more than 100 people. Most are international students from China, but the team is hoping to diversify. They’re a welcoming bunch — there are a few expert shredders leading the way, but most members are first timers. “I see other Chinese students on campus and assume they want to join us too,” says co-founder Tao Zhou, a junior from Beijing. “But we also want to branch out and ask American people to join.”
The team practices weekly when the weather is good, usually meeting on campus and then exploring the city. But on a recent Saturday, an unexpected influx of new members means the group needs to first stop into Freedom Skate Shop on State Street to get everybody geared up. More than a dozen people crowd into the small store, scoping out the available decks, trucks and wheels. The two employees behind the counter get to work. Store owner Geoffrey Kopski soon shows up to provide reinforcements. “I had no idea they were coming in today,” he says, but he’s not complaining. He loves introducing new people to the sport.
According to lore, a visiting American student brought skateboarding to China in the mid-1980s. The sport has begun to catch on on, and today China is increasingly recognized as a destination for international skaters. Compared to the U.S., where cops and skaters clash so frequently that it’s basically a trope, authorities in China are reportedly more tolerant, and the country’s ever-expanding cities provide lots of concrete and marble — perfect for shredding.
Outside the shop, Lai is already strapped into his rollerblades. It’s an unusual sight these days, and a little bit retro — in-line skating peaked in the ‘90s, at least in the U.S. Some might argue it’s due for a comeback. But in Lai’s hometown, a city of 9 million in eastern China, ‘blades are more popular than boards. “Whenever you go to the square, young people are slalom rollerblading or freestyling,” says Lai, who has been skating since age 5. “The key is practice, balance, increasing speed and knowing what your limits are — especially when doing tricks like jumping down stairs.”
Zhou says rollerbladers outnumber skateboarders in Beijing, too. She had to teach herself the basics when she got her first board two years ago, but she offers a helping hand to steady the newcomers as they try out their new setups. It’s a bit of a spectacle, but an endearing one — people on the sidewalk stare and shout encouragement as the group carefully makes its way down State Street.
UW-Madison has long been popular with Chinese students. The school enrolled nearly three times the number of Chinese students last year as it did a decade ago. The folks on Team Breeze say they love it here (except for the winters) and feel welcome on campus. But there are still misconceptions.
“There’s a stereotype that Chinese people are good at math and science,” Zhou says. “I just want to show that Chinese people can be cool, too.”
Best skate spots at UW-Madison: Dejope Hall, Bascom Hill, Charter Street, Kohl Center
Chinese international students at UW-Madison: 3,028
Skateboarding Olympics debut: 2020 in Tokyo
Olympic competition categories: street and park
Largest skatepark in the world: 182,000-square-foot GMP Skatepark in Guangzhou, China
