May 10, 2004
BMX Bandits
The cover story of this month's That's Guangzhou is devoted to bikes, BMX and the emerging scene in Guangzhou of X-Games sports. Most bikes in China are either the old black revolutionary models, or the mass-produced mountain-bikes which seem to get covered in rust really quick. Seeing a road bike with a lycra superhero on top is pretty rare, and having 6000 kuai to blow on a BMX and stackhat is fantasy for most. But hang out in 天河 Tian He for a bit, and it's just like any other big city, Skaters doing frontside boardslides and bikers like Zhong Teng Fei, the star of the story doing the Twister.
Before 1995, the idea of a BMX Team in Guangzhou would have seemed laughable: after all, the activity involves one person on one bike. But Jackie Ye, who founded the BT Sports Club in Guangzhou, changed all that, showing sceptics that in BMX practice and competition, a team spirit can develop. Jackie was previously a Mountain Bike and Road Bike Champion, but the culture of BMX appealed to him. However, with his experience only as a road rider, he could not train the riders himself. BMX has its own distinctive skills. So he asked professional Taiwanese BMX trainers to visit, to help turn Guangzhou's BMX crew into champions.
BMX in Guangzhou