Hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the International Education Association Shanghai, the 13th Shanghai Region and the 1st Yangtze River Delta HEIs International Students Dragon Boat Race was held on June 10 at Tonghai Lake on the Fengxian Campus of East China University of Science and Technology. International students from 32 universities in the Yangtze River Delta region participated in the dragon boat race. More than a thousand international students gathered and paddled through the waves, experiencing the charm of traditional Chinese culture.
Tongji University's international student dragon boat team achieved a score of 55"50 in the preliminaries and 56"22 in the finals, winning the bronze medal and the second prize. This achievement stands as a remarkable milestone, marking our university's best performance for the past five years.
Our international student dragon boat team was established in April this year. Since its establishment, the team members have participated in dragon boat training every week, regardless of the weather. During the training and competitions, they strengthened their physical fitness and team spirit and established strong friendships with students from different countries. Moreover, they enhanced their understanding of the traditional Chinese culture and Tongji University’s spirit of cooperation while in the same boat.
At the award ceremony, our international students were overwhelmed with excitement and celebrated their hard-earned victory by chanting "Tongji". After the race, CHEN Guangli from Cambodia was so excited and said that after two months of training, they finally won a great victory. Through their concrete actions, our international student dragon boat team demonstrated Tongji University’s spirit of "global mutual support" and "solidarity in adversity." LI Guangzhong from Germany was filled with enthusiasm and said, "In the atmosphere of enjoying the race and fostering friendship, we have defeated many traditional strong teams and surpassed ourselves!"
Dragon boat racing is a traditional Chinese sport. International students from universities and colleges in Shanghai gather together at the Dragon Boat Festival. They will participate in dragon boat races and eat rice dumplings, experiencing the traditional Chinese folk culture. Since 2008, the International Student Dragon Boat Race, organized by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the Research Association for International Student Education in Shanghai Universities, has become a significant and classic event in the international campus culture of universities and colleges in Shanghai. This event has been well received by international students.
