China has become home to non conventional games like the X-Games since the advent of the Olympics. While the traditional Chinese martial arts is still popular, the induction of the adrenaline inducing X-Games has left its mark. The country now hosts Action Games Sports Tours on a regular basis which sees huge participation. The popularity can clearly be witnessed by the fact that the country is now home to the world's biggest skating park. The interesting fact of the situation is that these adventure sports evolved in the country after the sponsors found that there was a huge market to sell their products in.
Learning Chinese martial arts may not be the only option for sport-lovers visiting China. Being the host of the Olympic Games, the country has made way for non-traditional sports to make sure that visitors from around the globe feel completely at home when on the China tour. Now the world's largest skate park has been built in Shanghai. Spanning an area of 44,936 sq. ft the SMP Skate Parkhouses several skating rinks inside it. There is everything here that a skater can want. There are flat banks, quarter pipes, hips, hand rails, wall rides and everything else that one would be looking for. This skate park has become a part of the Mandarin culture and the pro and neo skaters can be found honing their skills here.
There is an annual competition called the "The Showdown" that is held there. A 12,300 square foot viewing deck and plaza that allows an enormous crowd to gather and watch the ongoing fun.
The initiation of the X games and their rising popularity in China, surprisingly has been a result of a number of businessmen seeking new business opportunities in sports. In 2006, a group of five Chinese businessmen visited NBC Sports in their quest for new business opportunities in the light of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. They saw a presentation from Dew Action Sports Tour and decided to introduce and promote action sports in China. As a result in August 2007 Xingyi cut a deal with NBC to bring Action Sports Tour to Beijing. This not only popularized the games that did not receive recognition in China earlier but also offered the companies offering sports accessories an opportunity to promote their products and consequently the Action Games in China.
X-Games, Action Sports Tour and Action Sports Association held events in the Mandarin territory in 2008 and there has been no turning back ever since. An interesting fact to note is that; in the U.S. the "sport" came first and the industry got built around them whereas in China it has been the exact opposite. It was only after the industry established itself that the games grew around it. This has all gone so well that the world's largest skating park is now a rage in the country.
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