Fascination in Formosa

In my younger years, Taiwan was a country that I perceived as being shrouded by mystery. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I caught wind of Taiwan becoming a global skate mecca. I heard tales of endless, previously unseen spots all made entirely of marble and no security! The stories caused some slight premature ‘tenting’ in my trousers, but I wasn’t 100 per cent sold just yet. I needed video evidence in order to pitch a proper tent downstairs. As the months rolled by and footage of Taiwan’s skate spots became more abundant, I can honestly say I was considering opening a camping store because ‘tenting’ could have been my middle name!

For years I salivated over Taiwan’s thoughtful overuse of marble and of city planners and architects who were unknowingly creating skate spot masterpieces on every corner. My yearning to visit never seemed to fade, but as the years went by, the likelihood of me ever getting to skate there definitely did. As the number of skateboarders heading to Taiwan to ‘skate and destroy’ gradually intensified, so did the security and the local population’s distaste for skateboarding and skateboarders in general.

The entire country is only 36,197 square kilometres and has a population of 23 million law-abiding citizens. That means Taiwan has a similar population to Australia, but it’s crammed into a space that’s just over half the size of Tasmania. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that a formula like that can ultimately result in a total shutdown for skateboarding across an entire city or country. Norway nationally banned the use, sale or ownership of skateboards between 1978 and 1989, and Vancouver used to look a lot different before their local government decided to ‘skate proof’ the entire city after street skating exploded in the ’90s. These types of precedents always weigh heavily on