Riding the Qiantang River Tidal Bore
- 12 years ago
Surfers from all over the world converged in China (Oct. 1) to ride the signature wave that sweeps down then Qiantang River.
Referred to as the "Final Blow" in Chinese and "Silver Dragon" in English, the yearly wave rolls through the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.
Monday's ride involved 16 surfers from the U.S.A., Brazil, and Australia.
[Mary Osborne, California Surfer]:
"The difference between surfing in the ocean and the 'Silver Dragon' is that the ocean has many waves, so you can go out there and you wait and you just keep getting wave after wave, whereas here in China on the 'Silver Dragon', there's one wave and it's once a year. So you really have to be ready and have your team be ready and go with the flow and you just hope you get a little bit of the 'Silver Dragon'."
Surfing is unfamiliar to most Chinese mainlanders, but Australian participant Perth Standlick says he is optimistic about its future in China.
[Perth Standlick, Australian Surfer]:
"I think with this event on every year, it's just going to grow and grow and surfing in China will eventually become a bigger sport and I think it's going to be good, because there are really good waves here. You've got the river, you've got waves on Hainan Island -- and it's awesome waves there. So there's no reason why there shouldn't be any Chinese surfers."
Maybe with enough publicity, next year's big ride will see more Chinese faces as surfers from all over the world ride the next Silver Dragon.
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Referred to as the "Final Blow" in Chinese and "Silver Dragon" in English, the yearly wave rolls through the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.
Monday's ride involved 16 surfers from the U.S.A., Brazil, and Australia.
[Mary Osborne, California Surfer]:
"The difference between surfing in the ocean and the 'Silver Dragon' is that the ocean has many waves, so you can go out there and you wait and you just keep getting wave after wave, whereas here in China on the 'Silver Dragon', there's one wave and it's once a year. So you really have to be ready and have your team be ready and go with the flow and you just hope you get a little bit of the 'Silver Dragon'."
Surfing is unfamiliar to most Chinese mainlanders, but Australian participant Perth Standlick says he is optimistic about its future in China.
[Perth Standlick, Australian Surfer]:
"I think with this event on every year, it's just going to grow and grow and surfing in China will eventually become a bigger sport and I think it's going to be good, because there are really good waves here. You've got the river, you've got waves on Hainan Island -- and it's awesome waves there. So there's no reason why there shouldn't be any Chinese surfers."
Maybe with enough publicity, next year's big ride will see more Chinese faces as surfers from all over the world ride the next Silver Dragon.
For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ☛ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C