Explorers Christian Havrehed and Sun Haibin are rowing from China to Japan, something never attempted before. They are using the row to raise scholarships for Japanese high school students. The Xu Fu Environmental Scholars will participate in Atlantic Pacific's Japan Spring Camp in 2025, where they will learn about environmental problems in the oceans and what to do about it.

探検家のクリスチャン・ハヴレッドと孫海濱が、中国から日本まで漕ぎ出すという前代未聞の試みに挑戦している。彼らはこの漕ぎ出しを、日本の小学生のための奨学金を集めるために利用している。徐福環境奨学生は2025年にアトランティック・パシフィックのジャパン・スプリング・キャンプに参加し、海洋の環境問題とその対策について学ぶ。

Why support these scholarships?

Xu Fu is said to have brought many useful things to Japan in ancient times. Christian and Sun Haibin have therefore asked themselves what they can bring to Japan with the New Xu Fu Voyage East to honour Xu Fu’s legacy.

There is no doubt that Climate Change is the key challenge we all face now. That is why Christian and Sun Haibin have chosen to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13 Climate Action and 14 Life Below Water with their row.

As a thank you to the ports they call on in Japan, Christian Havrehed and Sun Haibin have therefore pledged six Xu Fu Environmental Scholarships to 13 – 18 years old students from these ports.

The Xu Fu Environmental Scholarship comprises a 5 days / 4 nights sea rescue and environmental awareness Spring Camp held by UK NGO Atlantic Pacific at Nebama Bay, Kamaishi in March 2025. The course is valued at JPY105,000 and in addition up to JPY30,000 towards travel expenses can be provided, so that any student from those ports, regardless of wealth, may be able to participate.

What will the Xu Fu Scholars learn at the Atlantic Pacific Spring Camp?

Spring camp is focussed on the SDG 14, life below water, where Atlantic Pacific provides a holistic approach to learning, including experiences on the water, education about the problems our planet is facing and insights into the real impact it is having on communities like Nebama.

Atlantic Pacific also teach fundamental lifesaving skills so students can be prepared to help in an emergency and become active humanitarians. With this approach, Atlantic Pacific hope to inspire participants to start a new way of living to preserve and protect our planet.

For more information on the Spring Camp please visit Atlantic Pacific's Website: https://www.atlanticpacific.org/atlanticpacificinjapan

To apply for a Xu Fu Environmental Scholarship, register here: https://yantu.com/xu-fu-environmental-scholarship-registration/

Please support the Xu Fu Environmental Scholarships to support young people learning about our oceans, the impact of human behaviour on it, and how we can take action to help save our planet!

Who is AtlanticPacific?

Atlantic Pacific is a trusted international humanitarian organisation run by a team of trusted experts on a mission to combat global drowning.

AP's camps are based in Kamaishi, Northern Japan and are based around teaching young people lifesaving skills, disaster preparedness and most importantly the changes that we have to make to our behaviour around consumption and waste to protect our oceans, most specifically our use of plastic.

Atlantic Pacific is a United World Colleges X initiative and previous students have told us that their participation in our programmes has significantly changed their lives and their ambitions in relation to protecting and preserving our planet.

What are Christian and Sun Haibin doing to raise funds for Atlantic Pacific and the Xu Fu Environmental Scholarships?

On Saturday 25 May 2024 Asia’s first ocean rower, Chinese national 孙海滨 (Sun Haibin) and Denmark’s first ocean rower, Christian Havrehed ( 黄思远 ), will embark on a 1,300 km row from China to retrace the route of China’s first maritime explorer, Xu Fu (徐福), who in 210BC was sent by the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to search for the Elixir of Immortality in the Eastern Seas.

The first leg of the row is an off-shore non-stop 800km crossing of the East China Sea to Nagasaki. Here the pair will clear into Japan early June before continuing on a 500km coastal row round the Southern tip of Kyushu island and up to Nobeoka in Miyazaki Prefecture, where they expect to complete their row Sunday 30th June 2024.

Along the way they will visit locations in Japan dedicated to Xu Fu (known in Japan as “Jofuku”) and make cultural exchange activities with the local Xu Fu Associations to celebrate and promote the story of Xu Fu.