Extreme goes mainstream

Trendy young thrill-seekers embracing new wave of hair-raising sports, Sun Xiaochen reports.

No longer the preserve of risk-taking adrenaline junkies, extreme sports are shaking off their niche status to become increasingly popular lifestyle choices within China's fitness mainstream.

Whether it's scaling walls, skateboarding on halfpipes or dirt-jumping on bikes, China's fashion-conscious young urbanites are embracing the thrills and spills of extreme sports, many of which now come with an Olympic seal of approval as well as street kudos.