Apparently certain folks in China are worried about surfers. Or maybe they despise surfing. Either way, in order to prevent wave sliders from using their craft ever again, groups of people that look to be officials have taken to sawing chunks out of surfboards. Maybe for public health and safety reasons.
In a Facebook post, Sharky Chung explains the events in the video above where men in uniforms and helmets aggressively take a man’s surfboard and saw a notch out of it. “They aren’t police,” she says. “This isn’t government sanctioned. It’s the illegal destruction of private property. Boards like that retail for over 3000 rmb.” That’s Chinese Yuan, or about $450 USD.
According to the post, the incident occurred at Xichong Beach, just northeast of Hong Kong in the Chinese province of Shenzhen, a beach with an up and coming surf scene that boasts some of the best waves in Southern China.
“The surfing population of Xichong is huge,” said Chung. “There are hundreds of people involved.”
For now, it’s unclear what the motivation is behind the incident, and who the men in uniform are if not police officers, as Chung claims in her post.
This seems a little extreme if public safety is indeed the impetus, no? Photo: Facebook/Sharky Chung
Accompanying the post are images of two surfboards with notches cut out of them, and a notice of some sort. Rudimentary translation software was ineffective in providing an adequate translation of the notice. It did, however, suggest that perhaps this effort had something to do with surfers sustaining injuries in the water recently, and the desire to keep tourists safe. Why someone would go to such measures as saw a chunk out of a board, rendering it unusable, however, seems extreme.
Chung remains adamant that local surfers need to stand up. “If they start some bullshit tomorrow we all need to stand together.” she said. “There are more of us than these hired thugs. Not only that, try to make this video go viral outside of China. Post to surfing forums. Any possible chance of shaming these goons should be taken. This is outrageous.”
We reached out to various sources for further comment, and will update this story should any new information become available.
