Surfing on the Qiantang River Tidal Bore, China

Gerard Sports Marketing (GSM) has teamed up with Chinese partner, Wabsono International--and the Chinese government--to bring the sport of surfing to the Chinese people.

Everyday--twice a day--in the City of Hangzhou (pronounced "han-joe"), a tidal bore wave rolls upstream on the Qiantang (pronounced "kwin-tang") River. And each year, in September, the wave is at its largest.

To witness this awesome sight, hundreds of thousands of Chinese people come to the annual Wave Watching Festival in Hangzhou. And this year, they're here to see surfing for the very first time.

For this trip, we brought the Long brothers, and Mark Healey.

The purpose of this trip was to demonstrate to the Chinese government that surfing on the river was feasible... and that the idea of broadening the annual festival to include surfing is a good one.

This year's surfing event was a huge success. In fact, the day of the festival, it was a top story on the Chinese national news channel (CCTV)--and was viewed by approximately 1/2 the entire Chinese population!

GSM and Wabsono have signed a long term exclusive rights deal with the City of Hangzhou to develop the surfing festival concept. The plan is to include industry brands and promote the sport on a large scale to the Chinese people. Stay tuned for updates!

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• surf
• surfing
• action
• sports
• water
• billabong
• quiksilver
• Greg
• Long
• Rusty
• Mark
• Healey
• Tidal
• Bore
• China

[poggle371]

Thanks for the name check guys.I did surf the dragon twice in 1988.The first time for 600 m standing the briefly as I went to rescue the crew when the boat overturned.The wave reached 8m in height breaking into 0.5 m of river..Stuart Matthews

[poggle371]

No...it was me back in 1988 for the film Jaws of the Dragon.Patrick and co., went in 2008 and did a good job ,but I was the first and rode it twice,the first for about 600m standing then a shorter distance on a VERY BIG and rough wave,when I went to the rescue of the crew when their boat overturned.

[neilandfi]

Atlanticosurf, Patrick Audoy and Eduardo Bage did great last year..those guys had big balls just to take on the chinese authorities, never mind the wave!

But they didn't pioneer this wave. That was Stuart Matthews in 1988. He surfed the wider, even crazier part of the river and only lasted 11 seconds before both he and his boat were turned over and dragged a very long way upstream...but all survived. This is well known. If you know Fabrice or Antony Colas, ask them about it.

[atlanticosurf]

Amazing.. but in fact the first guys to surf this river tidal was the french Patrick from Bordeaux and the braziian Eduardo BAJE, pro longboarder , ok, ALOHA

[neilandfi]

I think you guys did good. This is the everest of tidal bore surfing, which I would say is slightly different to mainstream riding. I would LOVE to see you guys surfing with some of the top tidal bore specialists, like Serginho Laus or Steve King. The comparison would be fascinating.

[DendoWeedFace]

HOLY SHIT!! it actually barells at a section.. thats sick

[oldguysrule]

This is sooo Sick! Looks like fun,..not clean,...but fun! Thank you for sending that over,Mark Healy is the Man!