HAN TSAI
LOCAL TAICHUNG Shredder
January 2022
‘We are happy to pay the bill
for ryan sheckler.’
When did you skate and why?
When I was young, I played a PS skateboarding game “Thrasher Presents Skate and Destroy”. I started to like this sport immediately but I never had the opportunity to try it myself. When I was 13 years old, for the first time I saw an actual skater on the street doing an ollie and pop shuvit with my own eyes. This is where my passion to skateboarding really started, and after a few days, I took a bus with my friends to the city to buy my first skateboard.
Which pro skater inspired you at that time?
Daewon Song. I really like his early Deca skateboarding videos, most of which are related to the card trick “blunt”, so I have been practicing fs and bs blunt continuously.
What was your first trick apart from ollie?
Nollie fs pop shove it.
‘In recent years, Taiwan’s skateboarding culture has gradually improved and since skateboarding was included in the Olympics, many people have been training their children to skateboard.’
You live in Taichung, the second largest city in Taiwan. How different to skate there compared to Taipei?
I know some skate spots in Taipei: Under the Xinsheng Bridge, Nangang Extreme Field, Neihu Extreme Field. The Taichung ground is mostly cement rinks, and there are three skateboarding parks in Zhongzheng, Fuhu, and Weizi. The Fuhu skatepark has a pool, while Zhongzheng and Weizi are street skateparks.
Is there a good relationship between the skate community in Taipei and Taichung?
The relationship is maintained very well, and friends often communicate with each other.
What are the most populare skate spots in Taichung like parks and street spots.
There is a natural ramp outside Taichung Park, which has become one of the shooting locations for many overseas skaters in Taiwan. There is a small bridge in Yingcai Park. The iron rod on the bridge is shaped like a “convex”, which is a very difficult to skate. You can search for “Element’s “Keep Discovering Taiwan” Video on youtube. The spots in the video are all popular skateboarding locations in Taiwan including skateboarding locations in Taichung.
How big is the skate scene in Taiwan?
In recent years, Taiwan’s skateboarding culture has gradually improved and since skateboarding was included in the Olympics, many people have been training their children to skateboard. I believe that Taiwan will be eligible to participate in the Olympics in the future.
For any tourists that want to skate in Taichung, what is the best place to meet local skaters?
It is still mainly based on the skatepark. If you want to shoot street videos, it is easy to arrange a lot of locations because there are so many.
Ryan Sheckleris in a bit of trouble on his ‘You Good?’ part where he tail dropped from the top of two tunnels into a very narrow concrete provider with busy traffic on eithersides.
Ryan Sheckler’s film was broadcasted all over Taiwan. Taiwanese people were very excited watching it. Overseas skate teams all have ways to skateboard in places we can’t think of. The picture of the two tunnels is the most classic and doesn’t offend anyone except the traffic police…hahahahaha We are happy to pay the bill for Ryan Sheckler.
‘There is a natural ramp outside Taichung Park, which has become one of the shooting locations for many overseas skaters in Taiwan.’
What are some of the challenges skateboarding in Taiwan faces today?
In recent years, more and more people have come into contact with skateboarding in Taiwan, and they have also continued to build new parks, but it is still not enough. In a few years, the number of skateboarders will increase. Hence all regions in Taiwan need more skateparks.
Last question: If you could interview a person, who would it be and why?
Luan Oliveira. I admire his skateboarding style. He is self disciplined and humble. His skateboarding is fluent and he is tall and solid. It is as beautiful as art!
