CHINA MATTERS' FEATURE: WHY IS CHENGDU THE PLACE FOR STREET CULTURE?

What makes Chengdu one of the gnarliest places to skate in China? How is Chengdu “breaking the rules” with conventional basketball and turning it into their own game of streetball?

Whether it be hip-hop, nightlife, and live shows, or skateboarding and streetball, Chengdu has a reputation in China as a city with its own personality and a culture all about showing one’s colors. For many in Chengdu, self-expression is found through their favorite sports. And with the 2021 FISU World University Games coming up, youth from around the world will be coming to the host city, Chengdu, to showcase their talents.

China Matters host Josh heads to Chengdu to get a taste of how the streets give Chengdu its own unique swagger. He shreds the gnar with lifetime skateboarded and Chengdu local Jason and hits the courts with a group of Chengdu “streetballers.”

Can Josh survive the unforgiving cement of Chengdu skateparks and finesse his way to the hoop past towering streetball players? How are the streets of Chengdu reinventing the norm, recreating styles and redefining what it means to “live” in the streets?