Reaching for the sky in search of ultimate thrills
TANG’S unconventional approach to business is mirrored in his choice of hobbies.
He has always loved motorbikes since he learnt to ride as a teenager on the moors above Rochdale.
Three years ago he discovered a love of martial arts.
“I took my daughter, but didn’t like the idea of just sitting at the side, so I signed up. Within a few months I was hooked.
“Now I’m a brown belt and could achieve black this September. I’ve also recently taken up Brazilian Jujitsu and done a few competitions which is all good fun.”
But Tang is never happier than when he is up in the cloud, and I’m not talking the web storage kind.
He has achieved his private pilot’s licence and is an experienced self-taught paraglider.
“I’ve always had a thing with flying,” he said. “In my mid teens I saw hang-gliders on a local hill. I bought a secondhand one for 300 quid but had no money for lessons, so taught myself from some books form the library, A few crashes didn’t put me off. Then in 1999 paragliding had been invented and I taught myself that.
“It’s the mother of unsociable sports. It has to be the right day, right weather, right wind, right strength, and you have to drop everything to go and don’t know when you’ll be back.
“I’ve had some awesome flights. I once took off from Bradwell in the Peak District and landed in Grantham four hours later, 87km. I also did a big triangle flight in the Scottish highlands of about 50km. But the biggest flight was in Kenya, when I went 189km along the Great Rift Valley. That took all day.
“The highest I’ve been is 7,000 feet, above the cloud. It’s a bit dangerous but it’s quite an experience. It’s the closest thing to being a bird.”