[Photo provided to China Daily]

"At that moment, I was so happy knowing that someone in the city shared the same passion with me. It must have been fate," he says. "We practiced together and became good pals."

Later on, the skateboarding duo was exposed to a bigger clique thanks to a postage-stamp-sized advertisement in a newspaper. Other skaters were inviting people to meet at People's Park at a certain time. Han was a regular visitor to the spot, becoming part of a thriving group of local board riders.

In 1994, the Shanghai native's skateboarding circle grew to encompass peers across the nation after traveling to Hebei province's Qinhuangdao to attend a domestic skateboarding contest sponsored by the American company Powell Peralta-the first skateboard brand to set up in China in 1990.

The company ran a retail store in Qinhuangdao selling imported pro boards and high-quality parts like decks, trucks and wheels, meanwhile distributing monthly mimeographed fliers to its customers to share the latest skateboarding news.