CHANGSHA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A water-skimming stunt challenge has turned a rural Chinese county into an unlikely destination for tourists and motorcycle fans, drawing nearly as many visitors during the event as its entire population.
Mayang, a county with 274,000 permanent residents in central China's Hunan Province, received 250,000 tourist arrivals when Zhang Xue rode a custom-built motorcycle across the Jinjiang River on Sunday, the latest stage in a 17-year effort to master the water.
Zhang, 39, rode 40.74 km across the river. The run, which included seven consecutive U-turns, was certified by Guinness World Records as the longest distance traveled by a modified motorcycle on open water.
In 2009, he tried to ride across the water on a rudimentary modified motorcycle and fell into the river four times, reaching no more than 20 meters.
Zhang said he never lost faith in the project, even when failure seemed routine. "Even if I failed, I would have no regrets. I enjoy the process."
Today, Zhang is better known as the founder of ZXMOTO, the motorcycle manufacturer he established in Chongqing in 2024. Its French rider Valentin Debise ended the 2026 World Supersport season as runner-up in the riders' standings, while the company finished third in the manufacturers' championship in its debut year.
The motorcycle used in Mayang, the MX450, was built on a standard frame and powertrain, and fitted with an amphibious skimming kit. A front steering sled acted as a water rudder, while the rear wheel's deep-tread tire was partially submerged in the river, generating thrust to propel the bike forward. The bike had to maintain sufficient speed to stay on the surface, making U-turns particularly risky.
"The challenge was not only technical but physical," said Deng Liansong, a research and development engineer at ZXMOTO.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Xiong Wen, who witnessed the attempt in Mayang, said the significance of the event went beyond the numbers. "It is inspiring to see one person's passion for motorcycles persist for so many years and finally be recognized by more people," she said.
Videos of the run spread quickly on Chinese short-video platforms, where related hashtags accumulated more than 2.3 billion views. Local officials said traffic at Mayang's highway toll stations rose about 21 percent as visitors arrived from other parts of Hunan, as well as from Guangdong and Chongqing.
Zhao Yazhou, a motorcycle fan from Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province, drove 11 hours to watch the challenge. He said the experience felt far more powerful in person than on a screen.
During the event period, the county generated 125 million yuan (about 18.76 million U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue, according to Tian Haishan, deputy director of Mayang County's bureau of culture, tourism, radio and television. On the day of the challenge, around 80,000 people were present, he added.
Tian described the event as a high-profile example of rural cultural tourism breaking into mainstream attention. "Zhang's extreme challenge in his hometown was not just the birth of a Guinness record," he said. "It helped bring Mayang into the national spotlight."
Zhang, recently appointed as a cultural tourism ambassador for Huaihua City, used the event to promote iconic products from his home county of Mayang, which is administered by Huaihua City. His bike carried branding for Mayang's traditional brown sugar, as well as symbols of rock sugar oranges and dragon boats.
Exposure from his Superbike World Championship appearance in March helped sell out a year's inventory of the brown sugar in three days, Tian said.
Zhang said his resilience was shaped by the place where he grew up. "Different regional cultures influence a person's character," Zhang said. "My unyielding nature comes from this land. I chose to fulfill my dream here so that my hometown could be seen by the world." ■
