A tourist tries wake surfing on June 10, 2021 in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province. Photo: CFP

With surfing gaining popularity in China, more people are choosing to escape from the office and rush to embrace the ocean to take a break from the 996 working culture, which requires employees to work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, six days a week.

In South China's Guangdong and Hainan provinces, raising numbers of surf lovers are heading to the sea. Some have even changed careers and became surf coaches instead of heading back to the office.

"There were only several wakesurfing boats in Sanya, Hainan, as early as March 2020," Xiao Hui, the owner of "Wakesurfing World", a surfing club established in 2019, told the China News, adding that "a year later the number has reached 40, and the number is expected to double at the end of 2021."

Wakesurfing has experienced a transformation at the Wuzhizhou Coral Island, best known for its staggering natural scenery, clear water and marine resources, and a paradise for water sports in Sanya. Bao Yongzhou, CEO of Hainan Quyan Water Sports, told media that "the scale of the sport is expected to expand as much as possible with more people starting to enjoy such an unusual sport, especially after the pandemic."

"Chinese people are pursuing a more personalized sport nowadays and challenging cool wakesurfing is exactly what people want," added Bao.

Meanwhile, the Chinese variety show Let's Sacalaca introduced the sport to more young people as soon as it began streaming in July 2020.

Xichong, a village near Shenzhen, in Guangdong Province, was caught in the surf fever. Crowds rushed to Xichong to learn thrilling tricks from the local surf coaches. Soon the small village, with barely a supermarket, became a famous spot for its surfing and beach parties.

Jing Ling is one of the surfing coaches who quit her high-paid job in Guangzhou to come to Xichong. She changed careers to devote the rest of her life to surf after she jumped on a board for the first time in 2014. Jing told the media she feels awesome after taking over this new way of life.

A staff from Pin&Up surfing club in Xichong told the Global Times on Sunday that numerous students are coming to town to learn.

"Our business is booming," according to Pin&Up's staff, adding that "COVID-19 flare-ups in Guangzhou have affected our business these days, (because) you can come from another province to learn, but you may not get back."