“China and surfing could not seem further apart,” writes Nicolas “Nik” Zanella, who has authored a groundbreaking new book about the history of surfing in China titled “Children of the Tide: An exploration of surfing in Dynastic China” (edited by Sam Bleakley and out now in print and on Kindle). “How,” Zanella posits, “do the breathing techniques of Taiji, the flow of Daoism and the pragmatic values of Confucianism relate to a sport that has created kowabunga handshakes and the stereotypical stoned Californian surfer dude?”