:: taken in Shanghai, China.  // AjS

:: it’s not often you see good stencil graffiti in China – see below for a some at Beijing’s 798 / Dashanzi art district. This photograph was taken by Beijing-based Mårten Strassburg. To see more of Mårten’s photography, link here. If you spot graffiti or urban art anywhere in China, please share it with us at . We’d like to document it on NeochaEDGE. For more graffiti in China on NeochaEDGE, link here.  // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: I spotted this throw-up today in Shanghai while heading down Xinle Rd., near the the Huating Rd. intersection. I recently saw the same throw-up just around the corner from this one. Does anyone know whose work this is? If you spot graffiti or urban art anywhere in China, please share it with me at . I’d like to document it on NeochaEDGE. For more graffiti in China on NeochaEDGE, link here. // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: I recently came across some wet paint in Shanghai on Huating Rd. If you know whose work this is, please let me know in the comments section below. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more pieces going up in that area – it’s home to a fair amount of low-profile wall space. For more graffiti in China on NeochaEDGE, link here. // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: see below for some random graffiti tags and throw-ups I spotted in Shanghai on Xiangyang Rd. close to the Xinle Rd. intersection. These practically cover the entire length of a temporary construction wall that wraps around the southeast corner of the intersection. Nothing too special, but its kinda rare to see so many pieces strung together like this in Shanghai outside of Moganshan Rd. To see more Chinese graffiti, link here.  // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: taken in Shanghai on Anfu Rd.  // AjS

:: see the first photo below for a recent throw-up by Shanghai’s most prolific and probably most talented graffiti writer Mr. Lan. Does anyone recognize the other pieces / tags? If so, please let me know in the comments section. These photos were taken by fifty 5-reader Roach C. in Shanghai near the Anshan Xicun subway station. Thanks for sending them my way Roach C.  // AjS

:: taken in Shanghai in an alleyway near the intersection of Middle Fuxing Rd. and Baoqing Rd. Maybe I’m the only one, but I quite like the glass chard aesthetic atop brick walls in China. On some level, I think it’s artistic. I’ve seen it done with multi-colored glass and even with bits and pieces of smashed wine bottles.  // AjS

:: I met up with Nial O’Connor today, a Shanghai-based artist who I’ve written about before on 56minus1 and have had the privileged of working with on a video production. While chatting, I learned of some stencil experiments he did in Shanghai with his comic character Jing Jing. The below photographs capture this work; taken last year in the pre-demolition abandoned neighborhood at the corner of Shimen Yi Rd. and Weihai Rd (just across the street from the Four Seasons hotel). That same neighborhood has since been leveled and is now being prepared for high-rise development. In the coming weeks I’ll be documenting more of Nial’s stencil work in Shanghai – watch this space.  // AjS

:: Edinburgh-based Danny MacAskill is incredible and just plain inspires me. He’s perhaps the best street trials rider in the world. Watch below to find out why.

Can you say fakie tailwhip? What? Yeah, exactly. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: taken in Beijing on Guanghua Rd.; a slapdash graffiti piece turning the CCTV (China Central Television) logo in to a flower. This throw up was done on the south construction wall of the still unfinished new CCTV building.  // AjS

:: this past weekend I attended the MIDI music festival in Zhenjiang (Jiangsu Province), China. Below is a slideshow of snaps I took of graffiti pieces / tags / throw-ups that lined the inside wall of the venue (just across the street from the west gate of Jiangsu University). These were all painted specifically for the festival (and are probably gone by now), so they are not exactly organic. Nevertheless though, some are quite good. Enjoy.  // AjS

:: taken on Huating Rd. in Shanghai. A couple slapdash graffiti pieces, one of which dates to 2006. Any idea whose work this is? Dezio, please chime in.  // AjS

:: taken on Xinle Rd. in Shanghai. A couple of tags by DEZIO, a prolific French street artist based in Shanghai. The last photo is a snap of me taking these photos. For more from DEZIO, check out his Web site, his Flickr photostream, or this previous post on 56minus1.  // AjS

:: I have always been a fan of parkour and free-running, so I was thrilled to (literally) crash into a group of local teenagers / 20-somethings yesterday parkour’ing near People’s Square in Shanghai – it was great. I tried stopping one of them to find out more information, etc. but all of them were too busy jumping over stuff to talk to me…fair enough.

Later in the evening I got online to see what more I could learn about parkour in China, and, to my surprise, I came across several online Chinese parkour groups / communities / forums – they all start linking to each other after a while, but if you’re interested, start with these: City Monkey (Beijing based), Love Parkour (爱跑酷, national), China Parkour & Freerunning (national), Guangxi Parkour, Parkour Jilin, Ningxia Street Culture Union, Fujian Parkour, TNT Parkour Club (Nanjing based), etc.

Also, see below for a series of superb parkour videos from practically every corner of China. I have to admit, I was entirely unaware of the depth and breadth of parkour culture in China – it’s exciting to see how Chinese youth have taken to it. From what I gather, it’s only been around in China for a few years. Either way, very cool. Oh, and get this, parkour is translated in Chinese as 跑酷 (pao2 ku4), how great is that?! It’s perhaps my new favorite word.

Lastly, the marketer in me notices that there is zero brand presence (maybe that’s a good thing?) in any of this content; seems like a massively missed opportunity to connect with an edgy, emerging (i.e. trendsetting and influential) subculture in China. // AjS

in Xinjiang…

in Beijing…

in Hunan (inside a dorm room at the Hunan Industrial University), H/T to Youku Buzz…

in Xian…

in Shanxi (maybe also Xian)…

in Nanjing…

in Chengdu…

not sure where, looks to be in Western China and appears to be a soldier or police officer of some sort…

location unknown…

in multiple locations (Beijing, Nanjing, Qinhuangdao, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Fujian, Xian, etc.)

in Shenyang…

in Guangxi…

in Wuhan…

in Jinan…

in Yunnan…

in Yangquan…

in Tianjin…

in Wushan…

in Hangzhou…