Directors of the board

If you ask the first generation of Chinese skateboarders what opened the door to this refreshing and thrilling action sport, the most likely answer would be the 1989 American movie, Gleaming the Cube.

It wasn't the film's slightly silly plot that captured the imaginations of those wide-eyed Chinese teenagers, though-it was actor Christian Slater's various fluid maneuvers and high-flying stunts with a skateboard. The movie developed a cult following, leaving many of the youngsters agog. Han Minjie, 44, a Shanghai native who joined the trend in the early 1990s, is no exception.

"I watched the movie in 1992 and found that this super cool sport had a strong appeal to me," recalls Han.

Soon afterward, he bought himself a toy board, which is far less durable than a pro board, and used it to practice rolling and turning on the streets at midnight.