Surfing in China
Yes, people there have fun.
In my mind the Chinese surf scene is a perfect encapsulation of China today: the natural setting is there, with waves up and down the nation’s coast; there is a huge population of Chinese citizens that jump at the chance to surf; and the government basically makes anything resembling a normal scene impossible. So, is China surfable? I’ve got good news and bad news, and I’m going to start with the bad.
In my corner of the world (California), the beach is public. Besides 2020 surfing bans related to COVID, the only spots I’ve heard of that aren’t legal to surf are on military bases. Granted, CA is pretty much a surfer’s paradise (save the high rent on the coast), but the contrast between it and China’s mainland coastline is extremely stark (things are a little better on Hainan Island, as we’ll get to, but yeah).
Let’s start with surfing on the Shandong Peninsula in Northern China. There are waves in nearby Japan, so it makes sense there are waves on the coast here — I can find information online on a handful in the region. Cool, let’s paddle out! Well, not so fast — surfing is only allowed on one beach on the entirety of Shandong’s coastline, namely Shilaoren Beach in the city of Qingdao; in addition, the only section of the beach that’s legally surfable can fill up with beachgoers as it’s right next to a grip of…
