Freedom on wheels: Young Tibetans find new expression in skateboarding

LHASA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- In Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, a city where ancient traditions meet modern lifestyles, a group of young people glide through the streets on skateboards. Leading them is 31-year-old Tibetan youth Tenzin Teba, a tattoo artist and one of the key promoters of skateboarding in the city.

Born in Chanang, a county near Lhasa, Tenzin Teba showed a passion and talent for painting from an early age. After graduating from a university in east China's Jiangxi Province in 2015, he decided to return to Lhasa to start his own business.

With support from local policies that encourage college graduates to start businesses, he opened a tattoo studio. Instead of imitating outside styles, he integrated elements of thangka painting and traditional Tibetan patterns into his designs, creating a style with distinct local features.

Skateboarding, however, was something completely unfamiliar to him until college. After a classmate invited him to try, he was hooked. The sport's creativity and spirit of freedom captivated him. "It's not just a sport - it's a way of creating," he said. "Every time I master a new trick, I feel the same excitement as finishing a painting."

Recalling the time he came back to Lhasa, he noticed that only a few people had taken the sport up. Rather than give up, he set aside a space in his tattoo studio to sell skateboards and gear. "I didn't expect to make money from it," he recalled. "I just wanted to gather people who shared the same passion." Sometimes he even used his tattoo earnings to cover the costs of skateboarding.

In 2017, Tenzin Teba and several friends built Lhasa's first skateboarding venue, which they opened to the public free of charge. Although small, it quickly became the city's most popular gathering place for skaters.

He and his friends also began organizing regular skateboarding activities and filming videos to share online, hoping to create a stronger local skateboarding culture and show the world what skateboarding looks like on the plateau. Later, they started offering skateboarding lessons. With the sport's inclusion in the Olympics, more and more young people began to join in.

On World Skateboarding Day this year, more than 100 people took part in their activity in Lhasa, including skaters who traveled from Guangdong, Sichuan, and other provinces. "When we first started, only about 20 people showed up," Tenzin Teba said. "Now, I'd say there are nearly a thousand skateboarders in Lhasa."

The local skateboarding scene is also seeing more female participants, changing the image of the sport as male-dominated. "I skate to work most of the time, and sometimes I come across others doing the same. It always makes me feel happy," said Dekyi Drolma, a skateboarder in Lhasa.

Today, across the high plateau, young Tibetans are expressing themselves in diverse ways. In recent years, emerging sports such as skateboarding and street dance have spread rapidly among young people in Xizang, enriching cultural life and showcasing vitality and creativity.

"Everyone has the right to choose their own lifestyle," said Tenzin Teba. "Our generation in Xizang is proving that life on the plateau can be colorful and full of possibilities."