An emerging surf industry without any surfers
Off the coast of the South China Sea, on the island of Hainan, stands a 1,600-square-foot “surf facility†in an area the Chinese Government hopes will soon become a major surfing destination. The island, complete with its tropical climate, swooping beaches, and surprisingly hospitable lineups, has plenty of potential for fulfilling the government’s grandiose dreams of creating a “Chinese Waikiki.†There’s only one problem: currently there is no real surf scene in China. There are more than 1.3 billion people living in the country and only a few dozen of them call themselves surfers. But if the hopes of the Chinese government and a few major players in the surf industry come to fruition, all of that could potentially change.
In October of 2011, under the banner of the Swatch Girls Pro in Hainan, the ASP took a historical step for   … More