Today (May 4th) marks China's Youth Day.
A youth from Guangdong's Qingyuan aspires to promote Chinese culture by making short videos featuring his stunt longboarding, a variant of skateboarding.
As a major of computer advertisement design, Li Jianpeng is very lucky to have found out a way to earn a living with his major while adhering to his passion for longboarding.
Born in 2001, Li Jianpeng was originally very shy and introverted. In 2017 when he was admitted into Qingyuan Technician College, he fell in love with longboarding. It was this sport that changed his disposition. Since then, he has become very outgoing and confident.
"One of the reasons why I fall in love with riding a longboard is that, I can feel a sense of freedom when riding. Moreover, I can practice with those friends who are also passionate about longboarding. We encourage each other and make progress together," said Li.
From that time on, Li Jianpeng has made full use of all his spare time to practice longboard, even at weekends, he also practices with his friends for seven to eight hours. Over the past three years, he has worn out over 20 longboards and more than 20 pairs of shoes.
In November 2020, he participated in the So You Can Longboard Dance (SYCLD), an international longboard competition of high recognition, and won the world champion.
"It's incredible for me to win this award, and I am very glad that foreign longboarding players have the opportunity to witness Chinese player's skills," he said.
Li combined his professional skills in advertisement designing with longboarding together, creating a series of posters based on longboarding. So far, he has gained several provincial awards with his work.
After graduating from Qingyuan Technician College, he determined to develop his interest in longboarding in the way of making full use of what he has learned from his major. "With the skills of advertisement design, I can make short videos based on longboarding," he said.
Later on, Li Jianpeng worked with one of his partners to establish their own studio and skateboard store, using it as a base to make their short videos. To his relief, his videos have gained great popularity among college and university students. Li has received a lot of letters and comments from them, which say that his videos are so refreshing and relaxing that can encourage them to keep studying.
Positive feedback from his fans makes Li Jianpeng more persistent in developing longboarding. He pointed out that he plans to integrate the skills of riding the longboard with Chinese culture, such as Chinese Kung Fu and some of Chinese instruments, so that more foreigners can learn Chinese culture when watching the longboarding-themed videos. "I want to popularize longboarding nationwide and try my best to promote Chinese culture to the global stage by making full use of my videos," he said.
Co-presented by the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Guangdong Province & GDToday
Author | Nancy (intern)
Video editor | Holly
Editor | Wing, Nan, Monica & Jerry
