Saved US$6: 2 men in China ride water bike for 6 hours on open ocean without life jackets to avoid ferry fare, causing alarm
- Two men who crossed the open ocean between Guangdong and Hainan with no life jackets cause alarm on social media
- The men say they travel around China for philanthropic work, which leaves little spare money for things like ferry tickets
Two men in southern China were so desperate to save a few dollars they spent six hours riding a water bike across the open ocean without life jackets to avoid paying 41.5 yuan (US$6) each for the ferry crossing.
The men — one identified as Brother Stone on social media and a friend surnamed Zhou — rode the water bike from Xuwen in Guangdong province across the Qiongzhou Strait to Haikou on Hainan Island on December 31, Star Video reported.
They said they wanted to save money by not paying for the ferry and to challenge themselves physically to celebrate the approaching new year.
The crossing between Xuwen and Haikou takes one hour on the ferry.
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Chinese men ride water bike for 6 hours to save ferry fare
The two are from central China’s Henan province and often work together doing philanthropy in rural areas across the country, which leaves them with little spare money, Brother Stone said.
“We really don’t have money to buy ferry tickets,” he said.
Brother Stone added that he bought the hydrocycle years ago to travel around the country with him, but didn’t have more money to buy life jackets.
“From the video I took during the journey, you can see that the weather was pretty good. But there were surging waves all the way. We were experiencing non-stop high and low waves,” said Brother Stone. “It made me feel nervous, frightened, but also fresh and happy.”
They began the crossing at 9am and reached Hainan Island around 3pm. For the first half of the journey, they observed the sun to determine which direction was south. During the remaining half of the trip, they were able to see the shore of the island.
They took turns riding the bike and said it was physically exhausting.
“After going ashore, our legs were painful and sore. We could hardly walk,” said Brother Stone.
“We were thinking we could be the first people to cross the Qiongzhou Strait in this way. We finally made it thanks to our bravery, will, persistence, and we spent no money,” he said.
The duo’s sea excursion soon gained traction on mainland social media where many people expressed concern about their trip.
“They are too audacious. Without life jackets, they will lose their lives after falling into the sea,” one person commented.
“Didn’t they worry that they might ride to the Philippines?” said another.
Another user warned: “We’d better not circulate videos of such silly and dangerous behaviour to avoid emulation, which will lead to more rescue work for the authorities.”
