Nation poised on crest of a new wave

Chinese slowly being drawn to the laidback world of surfing

Executing maneuvers such as cutbacks and hang-fives, Chen Tong-ming carved his name into surfing history when he became the first Chinese to conquer the world's largest tidal bore on the Qiantang River.

Chen, 39 from Chinese Taipei, beat Tie Zhuang, a 30-year-old surfer based in Sanya, Hainan province, in the race for that honor. The top two surfers in China underwent four days' of extensive training about jet skiing from Australian star surfer Phillip Macdonald before the Red Bull Qiantang Surfing Shootout rode off on Sept 9.