Vans Goes to China: Part Two

adamsullivan

June 27 2008
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11 comments

To see the first installment of photos, click HERE.

On the third day we took a trip to SMP, the world’s largest skatepark. It was wet so we didn’t skate. That’s like when you’re really hungry and you put all these groceries in your shopping cart and get to the check out and realize you forgot your wallet. Also you flew 6,000 miles to go to the grocery store.

There’s a gigantic red vert ramp.

And a crazy capsule with rabbit hole.

Doug’s checking out a fraction of the street course.

Oh, hell. If I go obstacle by obstacle this will take forever. Here’s an overview.

Seriously. Ginormous. We came back and skated a few days later, but I didn’t take any photos because I was skating. It was the hottest day of the year, and in the span of an hour I think I got heat stroke three separate times. The session was me, Alva, and a ten-year-old girl that was dropping in on ramps I was scared of.

Alva holding the press conference down.

This kid had a sick Black Label tattoo. It says “No skate, no lite.” I think he meant “life.”

Tony found a sandwich called the “California Hippy,” so naturally he ordered it.

This is where East truly meets West: Ahi sliders. There’s one hell of an inside joke to go along with this, so indulge me.

Tim and Tony discussing the finer things in life.

The trouble with double entendres is that when you try to bring your slogan to another language, the two meanings don’t usually add up. Vans could have gone with the literal: “Rides the board off of the wall,” or the figurative: “Another way to think about things.” To be honest, I have no idea which one they opted for.

Stranger in a strange land. A strange land full of good food, though.

Palladini putting the finishing touches on the showroom.

Van Doren was excellent at Windexing the plexiglass.

Pnut time lapse. I meant to shoot more.

Shortly before the party, flames erupted from this electrical outlet. This guy grabbed a screwdriver and dove right in. I waited with my camera ready because I wanted a photo of someone being electrocuted, but no such luck.

Chris Overholser got bombarded by the media, but handles it like a champ.

If this isn’t the world’s largest building, it’s at least pretty damn close.

Hey RP, you might want to get Wet Willy a lawyer…

We went to the knock-off mall, which was basically miles of underground mall. We saw fake DC’s, phony Etnies, Faux-siris, etc etc.

But the “Viwans” were the hot item of the day. Chris and Doug each bought some.

Mall beers. Me and Overholser decided that because you CAN do something, you SHOULD do something.

These are the buildings that Tom Cruise jumped across in Mission: Impossible 3, shortly before he went bat-shit crazy. Or maybe he was already crazy then.

Another mall.

I never knew the Spitfire logo had a hand, but apparently he’s endorsing the Hot Mix Pot. Maybe he can use Wet Willy’s lawyer…

We rode in a bus pretty much the whole time, and thousands of bikes and scooters were flanking us wherever we went. I seriously could have taken the cigarette out of this guy’s mouth without even stretching.