By Rebecca Zhang & Julie Zhu
June 9, 2018
The 11th Dragon Boat Race for International Students in Shanghai Universities was held on June 9th. Thousands of international students from 28 universities in Shanghai, including Fudan University, Tongji University, etc., gathered around the Tonghai Lake in the East China University of Science and Technology to spend the Dragon Boat Festival through dragon boat races. On behalf of SDJU, 35 international students and volunteers participated in the intense and exciting competition and experienced Chinese traditional culture.
Every year, the Dragon Boat Race for International Students has been held by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai International Students Educational Research Association during the Dragon Boat Festival since 2008, which is so popular with international students that it has become one of the most important contests and activities of the cultural life on Shanghai university campus.
The dragon boat team of our university was parallel with the other three teams, but because of their good condition both physically and mentally, they surpassed others in the sprint phase. Eventually, they only spent 58s to finish the 200m race and obtained the 11th of good results.
Susan Sun, dean of the SDJU Division of International Cooperation and Exchange, and director of the SDJU Office of International Student Affairs, said, she’s cheerful to be surrounded by the enthusiasm of everyone. The dragon boat team not only got better grades every year and also had a better understanding of Chinese traditional culture. Contests are all about participating and experiencing. One of the team members Selbi said she loves this activity, which enables her to integrate with local culture and China. Furthermore, she believes that we will definitely make greater achievement next year!
The dragon boat race is a special Chinese traditional aquatic sport, which conveys the spirits of helping your teammates and fighting against difficulties together. International students built up their bodies during the training and contest, enhanced the team spirit, made more friends from different universities and also better understood Chinese traditional culture.
