SURF CHINA SURF

[sime]

planning a surf trip to china in june based in a place called Fuzhou. its on the coast near taiwan.
China doesnt seem to be a huge surf destination for some reason i cant work out (Surf Report dont cover it) as it has a big old coastline which is exposed to the big old Pacific Ocean (apart from a few offshore islands such as Japan).
not sure if its worth carting the board over from new zealand - so be interested to hear if anyone has scored any waves over a bowl of crispy peking duck? or even nearby taiwan or hong kong??

[Workinhard]

I am trying to find the same thing here and have so far heard of one or two locations. It would be a godsend so will keep you posted. From Australia to the land of the dragon, there should be something around and if there is I'll post a photo.

[sime]

hey from what you are saying it sounds like you are already in china? im looking at heading over in june so if you have managed to slay any dragons by then would be great to hear or photo even better....not too concerned about the quality of wave as surfing somewhere that doesnt even feature on the Surf Report would be enough of a kick....not that im ruling out an isolated right hand point break, cranking perfectly like a reverse Raglan - out the back of some secluded rice paddy village - with the only other surfers being few locals getting barreled on inflated tyres...

[JRR]

Hey you should try Japan.

[Old Baby]

Has anyone been able to find some surf spots in China? I'm heading over in May and would like to score some uncrowded surf. Has the area been explored yet? Maybe we should write to Surfer?

[Uluwatu]

Ahhh Fuzhou,....

smells like burning rubber and open sewers,.....mnnnn good.

seriously and sadly there is next to no surf on the west coast of the PRC, that is unless you happen to be there when a typhoon cozies up to the the coast. You have to travel south of Hainan Island to maybe find the right combination of wind, swell, bottom contour and fetch to generate rideable waves.... even Japan only has few spots around Osaka that are rideable...

but then again, if you can surf in Wisconsin why cant you surf in China...?

[Xavier]

You'll find everything you want at this site: wannasurf.com.
Detailled map, swells frequency, location,....
But too be honest my brother is living in China and he always tell me that it gets rarely good.
Anyway every dog has its day...
Nothing to do with Japan, I live in osaka and i know a lot of spots that are really cranking...
But what I don't get is why Japan and Korea get so good waves and not china... with such a coast it'is strange.
Whatever have a nice trip.

[Mathis Pellerin]

Hi,

Here is a 5min video about the discovery of the surf in China (Hainan) by 2 french surfers / globe trotters in novembre 2004.

Their reportage published in many surf magazines worlwide (maybe yours) contributed to launch Surf in China and all the new surf contests in Hainan:

- Swatch Girl Pro (ISA longboard)
- Citic Pacific Shenzhou Peninsula Pro (4 stars longboard WQS)
- L'ISA China Cup (surf worldcup)

Have a look and don't hesitate to broadcast it!

=)

Mathis Pellerin

[jaffa1949]

Your writing about the discovery of Hainan and the introduction of surfing to mainland China misses the fact that surfing had been introduced almost two decades before your French guys got there.

Here is an article by Stu Nettle
The Rearview Mirror Peter Drouyn Takes Surfing To China
In: The Rearview Mirror by Stu Nettle 7 Comments Fri 29th Oct '10


In 1986 Australian surfer, inventor, and recent gender reassignment patient, Peter Drouyn, tried to establish a surf academy on Hainan Island, China.

After a decade long career in professional surfing - a career that included top-tier victories and contributions such as of man-on-man surfing - Drouyn retired without any tangible rewards for his efforts. In November 1985 he told Tracks, " Look, I've got nothing to show for all this achievement, skill and creativity. I could go and be a tyre fitter or I could stick myself back into something different and see where it goes."

So Drouyn did a course in Asian Studies at Griffith University, and whilst there got the idea of introducing surfing to China. After finishing the course he spent many months ploughing through the red tape that would allow him permission to do so.

Although it was only 24 years ago, China was very different to its current state, and gaining access behind the 'bamboo curtain' was very difficult. Officials were notoriously suspicious of anyone from the West. After Drouyn had convinced Chinese officials that surfing success was in their national interest they granted him access. He had the loftiest of goals, including entering a Chinese team at the 1988 ISA Games.

Drouyn had Chinese officials select thirty of the best young atheletes, shaped a quiver of boards and then flew over to Hainan Island, not even knowing if he was going to get surf. As it happens, Hainan does get surf, although mainly small and onshore. Drouyn stayed a month, training the Chinese groms, with some of them even getting to their feet by the end of his time in China.

The tale of Chinese surfing falls away about here because Drouyn didn't go back and China didn't enter a team in the 1988 ISA Games. Indeed, the 2010 ISA Games were completed this week in Peru and although 32 nations entered, China wasn't one of them.

That's not to say Chinese surfing ground to a halt, however.

A year later, in 1987, an American contingent comprised of Matt George, Willy Morris, John Damm and Rell Sunn went to Hainan. There they found kids playing in the shorebreak on the leftovers of Drouyn's boards. The American's affectionately called the children - some of whom were Drouyn's old pupils - the Thunderdome Kids, in reference to 'Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome', where abandoned children await the return of a hero to rescue them.

Since then a mix of Western expats and curious travellers have slowly spread surfing into China. It has been very slow on the uptake, especially compared to other countries where it instantly flourished, yet on November 6th China will have its first professional surfing competition. Fittingly it will be on Hainan Island where Peter Drouyn - now known as Westerly Windina - first introduced surfing 26 years ago.

Google the article and see the pictures,

Even the posts in this forum predate the trip of discovery in November 2004 by your guys, the only one that is off the beam is the first poster who had trouble identifying Hainan from Taiwan.

The video is nice but facts is facts ( sic)

[carlocol]

I went to Hainan in September 2011, and surfed there.

There was an outfit called 'Surfing Hainan' run by an American named Brendan at 'Dadong Hai' near Sanya. (Surf was very small there.) I also went to a beach called something Hou Hai, one hour away, which was really enjoyable. Then I did a day trip with Surfing Hainan to RiYue Bay (unfortunately marred by extremely heavy rainfall), on the east coast of Hainan. RiYue Bay is supposed to have the best surf on Hainan. Several contests have been held there, including rounds of the Women's worldlongboard championship. In late 2011 Surfing Hainan moved to that beach.

They were running an informative website, which I often checked, then 2 months ago it disappeared.

I would be very interested to know what happened to Surfing Hainan - does anyone know?

Cheers
C