5 Minute Interview: KK, Xiamen Skater

Editor’s note: This article by Christina Xu was originally published via her Multi Entry project, and has been re-posted here with permission. The following transcript is from a September 2015 interview conducted by Xu with a skater named KK at the Shapowei Art Zone Skate Park in Xiamen, after photographing his crew skating around one afternoon. Everything below is translated from Chinese.

KK: I’ve only been skating for two years, but it’s my whole life now. In high school I was into riding fixies and I didn’t know any skaters, but then I happened to ride by someone who was doing a super high ollie jump on a skateboard. I thought it was the coolest thing and have been skating ever since.

Now I skate almost every day, if not at this skate park then in the wild, on the streets and whatever cool spots we can find.

Two other members of KK’s crew

KK: These days, I basically only hang out with other skaters. When we’re not skating, we like to explore and find abandoned rooftops. Sometimes we bring our own beer and soundsystems and throw parties up there. We do “skate tours,” too — travel to other cities just to skate on their streets.

KK: I spend a lot of time on Instagram. It’s blocked in China, but we still use it a lot because we need to keep up with foreign skateboarders. The skating scene is still young here, so we have a lot to learn.

I’m studying injection molding design in college. I want to build my own skateboards someday.

This photoessay is a part of Multi Entry, a decentralized collection of stories & media about the creative young people of mainland China and the culture they’re creating.