From the grasslands to the sea

While surfing returned Chen Tong-ming home to Taiwan, the sport has taken Tie Zhuang out of his remote hometown in Inner Mongolia and to the seaside.

Tie, 30, had been working on construction sites and railways across the country before he went back to the autonomous region in 2009. Having killed time at home for three months, he decided to join his younger brother in Wanning, Hainan province.

Despite coming from a grassland region where horse riding is the norm, Tie had a natural affinity for water. Over his parents' objections, he would go to a reservoir near his home to swim when he was young.

Tie's brother makes his living by taking photos of tourists at seaside Wanning. Tie used to run the memory sticks to the printer and one day saw a foreigner surfing.

That foreigner became his first surfing teacher. Tie could not speak English then, but luckily the foreign surfer knew some Chinese.

"Foreign surfing fans who are working in China are the force that have pushed the sport to grow in the country over the past 10 years," says BaoXuping, CEO of Surfing China, organizer of the Qiantang Surfing Shootout.

Brendan Sheridan, an American who runs a surfing club in Sanya, Hainan, founded Surfing Hainan Open, China's first surfing competition, in 2007. Tie took part in the event in 2009 and received an award for best local talent.

It was the first time Tie had entered a competition and the experience made him want to pursue a career as a surfing professional.

"It was more like a party than a competition. Surfers from all over the world came to Wanning, not for prize money but to explore Chinese surfing places and making new friends," Tie says.

"Surfers said hello to each other. Music was played. Beer was served on the beach. Foreign surfers were very kind and generous to teach me surfing tricks.

"Surfing generates more adrenalin in me than riding a horse does. But, more importantly, surfing is a relaxed lifestyle that I enjoy."

Tie has been crowned champion twice in domestic surfing competitions and now he desires to perform better at international competitions.

"Surfing doesn't cost much, except for buying air tickets to attend competitions. But the most interesting part of surfing is that I can travel to new places to meet new friends," he says.

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/10/2014 page25)