Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival: Powerful tides, professional surfing in Qiantang river

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For many near the Qiantang River in eastern China at Mid-Autumn Festival, their celebrations include one last touch of summer. Wu Lei talked with surfers and tourists there and shows us more.

Many locals call the Qiantang tidal bore the "mighty silver dragon". When it reaches its peak this Thursday, some bores will be very powerful, packing tides of up to several meters. Every year, tens of thousands of locals and tourists alike gather in Hangzhou and Haining cities to witness the bores on the Qiantang River, which nearly always coincides with China's Mid-Autumn Festival.

MR. DU HANGZHOU RESIDENT "The Qiantang tide has become a significant annual event. We mainly watch its tidal bore, it lasts a very short time but it's extraordinary."

Under the combined effects of gravitational forces and the Earth's rotation, the tides rush from Hangzhou Bay to the funnel-shaped mouth of the Qiantang River. They then form the majestic tidal bore, the largest of its kind in the world.

WU LEI HANGZHOU "The custom of watching the Qiantang River Tidal Bore dates back about 2000 years. But nowadays professional surfing seems to be a new tradition, as well as a fantastic competition for locals and tourists alike. They say riding the waves combines natural beauty, skill and strength."

Along with the Amazon River in Brazil, the Qiantang is among the world's best rivers for surfing. Many surfers say riding river tides differs from surfing in their familiar habitat.

DALE STAPLES SOUTH AFRICAN SURFER "Yes something totally different from surfing in the ocean."

There's never more than a single tide at any moment in the Qiantang River. Surfers in fact have to go out in pairs. One rides the scooter which chases the tidal bore, the other looks for the opportunity to jump onto the wave. If he falls, his teammate is ready to ride him back to the tide.

YANG JIARUI CHINESE SURFER "This is really a great chance to be with other world-class surfers. You can't surf the Qiantang any time you want; the annual tidal bore is such a rare opportunity."

18 surfers on 9 Teams from different countries are competing for the best tidal bore surfing performance. The goal is to cover a distance of over 30 kilometers in one surfing maneuver. Experts say it's challenging but exciting.

BAO XUPING, CEO SURFING CHINA "This year we have the most and also the top surfers in the world to surf the Qiantang River. And we have the new countries like France, South Africa and Indonesia joining us. So we have all the surfers from all the five continents the very first time here in Hangzhou."

These pros will continue the competition through Thursday. And they say Thursday will also be the best time to witness the Qiantang's largest tidal bore of all. WL, CGTN, HZ.