From Political Pressure to Cultural Constraints: The Prime Dissemination of Surfing in Hainan

Abstract

In the late 2000s, Hainan Island started to become popular for Chinese tourists. The political strategy of the state is to promote the island as a luxury destination of international stature—a “Chinese Hawaii.” This has raised the issue of political pressure to develop a type of place which logic resumes many ideas and ways imported from outside. Looking at the particular case of surfing in Hainan, a recent sport in China, this article analyzes how the locals assume such a practice. The main question is: Is the political pressure—wishing to develop surf sports—confronted with social and cultural constraints (like body representation and the image of sun tanning)?

在 2000 年代后期，海南岛开始成为中国旅客的热门目的地。国家的政治策略是推广海南岛成为世界级的豪华目的地—“中国夏威夷”。这样发展一个以借鉴国外思想和方法为主的旅游目的地，产生了政治压力的问题。以海南岛最近兴起的冲浪运动为例，本研究分析当地居民如何看待及接受这一情况。文章的重点问题是：发展冲浪运动的政治压力有否受社会和文化制约影响（如日光浴的形象及人体表现）？

Keywords:

• China
• political pressure
• social constraints
• tourism
• surf

Keywords:

• 中国
• 政治压力
• 社会制约
• 旅游
• 冲浪