There’s a Qixi Festival every year—how will you celebrate this time? Watch a movie, have a big meal, or sing karaoke until dawn like always? A group of skateboarders took over a stone bridge in Hangzhou’s Xianghu Lake, surrounded by lotus flowers and lake views, to compete in the 2014 Red Bull Extreme Jump Skateboard Competition. They got to experience the thrill of competing on a bridge for the first time and pulled off cool skateboard tricks to win roses from the “Red Bull girls.” This Valentine’s Day, they celebrated in a way you’d never imagine.
Even so, Wang Guohua became the most envied person on-site after the main competition. Coinciding with Valentine’s Day, the organizers arranged a romantic segment. Eight skaters were randomly selected to show off their coolest skateboard moves. Eight “Red Bull girls” served as judges, each holding three roses to give to their favorite skater. The lucky winner who received the most roses not only got a 2,000 RMB prize but also the chance to give a bouquet of flowers to any one of the “Red Bull girls.”
In fact, Wang Guohua already has a girlfriend. He said, “Before coming to this competition, I celebrated Qixi with my girlfriend in Guangzhou. I’m not afraid my girlfriend will see the photos—I’ll just give her the money when I get back. She just graduated, and I used to teach her how to skateboard, but I was worried she might get hurt. I can take the falls myself, but not her.” As for why he chose to give his rose to Bingqing, Wang Guohua said slowly, “I don’t know why she chose me, but I chose her because she was the first Chinese girl from the left.”
The first day of the 2014 Red Bull Extreme Jump Skateboard Competition ended in a relaxed and romantic atmosphere. Sixteen finalists will face off in the finals, battling through elimination rounds to determine the champion—the best is yet to come. But this Qixi Festival will surely stay in everyone’s memory.