Riding The 'Silver Dragon,' Surfers Tame China's 10-Foot River Waves
The hottest surfing in China this week wasn't along some palm-fringed beach in the south, but on a muddy, sometimes trash-strewn river in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Surfers came from as far away as Southern California to ride the Qiantang Tidal Bore — a big river wave that forms during China's Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is full, and barrels upstream for miles.
"The wave is so cool, because it's so unpredictable," says Jamie O'Brien, a professional surfer from Hawaii's North Shore, who won this week's 2014 Red Bull Qiantang Shoot Out along with a fellow teammate. The unconventional contest brought together eight surfers to ride a natural phenomenon that's been around for at least several thousand years.
O'Brien said riding the "Silver Dragon," as it is sometimes called, is really different from riding an ocean wave, especially in a crowded environment like Hangzhou, where the buildings rise to 50 stories and there are more people than in New York City.
"It's definitely an obstacle course, because you've got boats. You've got piers. You've got cement pilings," says O'Brien. "I was in the white water trying to come out of this turn and this branch comes right by me!"
Surfers race in front of the Qiantang Tidal Bore. The wave travels upriver and forms during China's Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is full.
The surfers used Jet Skis to tow or drop each other into the wave. O'Brien says the event was really tiring because the wave just keeps going and going.
"We rode two hours up the river before the contest even started and then we surfed all the way down," says O'Brien, 31, who estimates he spent a total of 20 minutes on his board.
On ocean waves, by contrast, rides are measured in seconds.
See what it's like to ride the "silver dragon" at the 2013 Red Bull Qiantang Shoot Out.
SurfersvillageTV YouTubeHubert Chanson, a professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of Queensland in Australia, has documented 190 tidal bores around the world. He says the two biggest are the Qiantang and the Pororoca on the Amazon.
Chanson says bores form on rivers with big tidal swings from, say, 13 to nearly 20 feet. When the gravitational pull of a full or new moon raises the water level at the river's mouth especially high, it triggers a wave that rolls upstream.
One reason the Qiantang bore is so big is that the triangular-shaped Hangzhou Bay acts like a funnel, amplifying the wave as it moves inland. The bore takes various shapes. Sometimes, it has a sloping face a surfer can cut across. At others, it can break into a surging, foamy, nearly two-story wall of water.
The bore has so much power, it can crash over sea walls, wiping out crowds. In 1993, nearly 60 people were killed while watching. Chanson says the first person on record to surf a tidal bore was a British soldier who rode the U.K.'s Severn River in the 1950s.
"Historically, in China, in fact, I read a story suggesting that back in the 18th century, there were some very brave Chinese swimmers who were bodysurfing the tidal bore of the Qiantang River," says Chanson.
A team from Honolulu, which included Jamie O'Brien of Hawaii's North Shore, won this week's surfing competition, held on one of the world's two biggest tidal bores, located in Hangzhou, China. The other is in the Amazon.
Wabsono International, a Chinese apparel manufacturer, sponsored and organized this week's surfing competition.
It was designed to promote surfing as well as surf and sports clothing. Surfing, though, is not popular in China, where water sports are uncommon and most people can't swim.
Glenn Brumage, the CEO of Performance Sk8 and a board member of Wabsono, says having surfers take on the Qiantang Tidal Bore is a great opportunity for exposure, because tens of thousands of people line the riverbanks and millions watch on TV.
"The hope ... is just to bring the actual act of riding a wave to the general populace," says Brumage. "That will help the lifestyle aspects of the brands we're involved with."
Most who came to the river had no clue they were going see surfers. Many were delighted by what they saw.
"I feel they are pretty skillful," said Liu Tao, who's studying tourism management at a local university. "Sometimes they were about to collide and then they would change their course in a split of second."
But Liu, 20, doubts surfing will catch on anytime soon, especially in a culture where parents are especially protective of children.
"Many parents and adults think surfing is dangerous," says Liu. "Generally, only people with extreme sports backgrounds and training can surf. My parents, they won't let me do this."
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Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Next, we have a story about surfing in China. But the waves aren't in the ocean. They're on a river and they can rise to 12 feet or more and barrel upstream from miles. Every fall, a phenomenon known as a tidal bore sweeps through the Chinese city Hangzhou. It's called the Silver Dragon. NPR's Frank Langfitt hit the water yesterday to cover a surfing contest and filed this report.
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: So I've standing on a boat in the middle of the Qiantang river in Hangzhou and there's thousands of people along the river banks. Big tall buildings - 40, 50 stories and you can see just coming under a bridge is a big wall of whitewater.
GLENN BRUMAGE: They've got somebody carving the face right here on this left - surfer's left. I believe it's the Hawaiian team.
LANGFITT: Glenn Brumage works with Wabsono International, a Chinese apparel manufacturer that's sponsoring and organizing the event. He's giving a play-by-play until...
LANGFITT: Did he just fall?
BRUMAGE: Looks like he may have.
(LAUGHTER)
BRUMAGE: Good eye.
LANGFITT: Looks like he just went over the back of the wave.
(SOUNDBITE OF WAVES)
LANGFITT: And with that, the Silver Dragon, about six-feet high in this section of the river, bores under our boat and continues upstream.
JAMIE O'BRIEN: The wave is so cool because it's so unpredictable.
LANGFITT: Jamie O'Brien is a professional surfer from Hawaii's North Shore. He won the competition yesterday with a fellow Hawaiian teammate. Afterward he said surfing the Silver Dragon is really different than riding an ocean wave, especially in a crowded city like Hangzhou, which has more people than New York.
O'BRIEN: It's definitely an obstacle course, 'cause you got boats, you got piers, you got cement pilings. I was in the white water trying to come out of this turn and this branch comes right by me and I'm like, 'cause I was like just trying to get out of the whitewater to see what's going on.
LANGFITT: The surfers use jet skis to tow each other in the wave. O'Brien says the even was really tiring because the wave just kept going.
O'BRIEN: We rode two hours up the river before the contest even started and then we surfed all the way down.
LANGFITT: How much time do you think you spent on the board?
O'BRIEN: Probably spent a good 20 minutes on my board out there today.
LANGFITT: On the ocean, by contrast, rides are measured in seconds.
HUBERT CHANSON: My name is Hubert Chanson and I'm a professor in hydraulic engineering at the University of Queensland in Australia.
LANGFITT: Chanson says waves like this one occur on rivers with big tidal swings. When the gravitational pull of a full or new moon raises the water level of the river's mouth especially high, it triggers a wave that rolls upstream.
CHANSON: Personally. I have documented roughly about 190 tidal bores.
LANGFITT: And two of the world's biggest are on Qiantang and the Amazon. The Qiantang is so powerful it can crash over seawalls, wiping out crowds. In 1993, nearly 60 people were killed here while watching. Chanson says the first person on record to surf a title bore was a British soldier, who rode the U.K.'s Severn River in the 1950s.
CHANSON: Historically, in China in fact, I read story suggesting that back in 18th century, there were some very brave Chinese swimmers, who were body surfing the tidal bore of the Qiantang River.
LANGFITT: Yesterday's event, which was also sponsored by Red Bull, was designed to promote surfing in China, which is not popular here, as well as surf and sports apparel. Liu Tao, who's 20, came to girl-watch and see the wave. He was pleasantly surprised to find people actually ridding it.
LIU TAO: (Speaking Mandarin).
LANGFITT: I feel they're pretty skillful, he says. Sometimes they were about to collide and then they would change course in a split second - they're pretty good. But Liu, who's studying tourism management at a local university, doubts surfing will catch on here anytime soon.
TAO: (Speaking Mandarin).
LANGFITT: Many parents and adult think surfing is dangerous, he says. Generally, only people with extreme-sports backgrounds or training can surf. My parents, they won't let me do this. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Shanghai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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