Shortly after Daniel Pannemann, Taylor Nawrocki, Barney Page, Vladik Scholz, James Capps, Patrik Wallner, Tommy Zhao, Mike O’Meally and I dipped our toes in cultural waters and just started to get a taste for the east coast megapolis that is Shanghai, it was time to board a train and get cosy for the 70-hour plus journey to Xi’an – China’s ancient capital city.

A rickety old locomotive would take us through bewildering forests and extravagant mountains, and on past farms and their agricultural lands. There wasn’t much that could stand in the way of China’s engineering, infrastructure and sheer need for transport for the millions of people that migrated this way annually.

Arriving in Xi’an we had more than our fair share of sights to see and streets to skate. From the Terracotta Warriors, to the temples and palaces of the bygone emperors that once ruled the vast empire of China.

A 30ft-high brick wall that encased the city had vast contrasts of the different dynasties which built the ancient mecca, combined with a hint of capitalism to top it all off. All of which makes the old capital a thriving urbanization of modern China and a truly exciting place to be.