Teenagers take to the water in celebration

Ti Gong

A rowing competition for teenagers at Huacao Town in Minhang District celebrated Dragon Boat Festival on Monday.

Twenty-five teams of four competed in the 500-meter race as showers fell on a river on the campus of the Minhang Foreign Language Middle School affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University.

The rowing carnival was also a graduation ceremony for 76 students from the host school, Jiwang School, Huacao School and Zhudi School, for the first phase of a rowing course since March.

Zheng Jixiang, a sixth-grader at the Minhang Foreign Language Middle School, said: "I have been swimming and like sea fishing, and was curious about rowing when I heard about it. I think it's a good way for relaxing after school like other sports, but focusing more on group work, so I do love it and will keep practicing."

The competition drew attention from rowing organizations, such as World Rowing, and rowing teams from famous universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, whose representatives sent congratulations to the students in Huacao.

To entertain residents, both from home and abroad, on the traditional Chinese festival, organizers invited them to a friendly dragon boat race, a tradition to celebrate the festival in China. It attracted faculty from international schools in the region and rowing enthusiasts in the city.

Christophe Henry, head of the Shanghai American School's Puxi campus, said he arrived in the city last September and it was his first Dragon Boat Festival in Shanghai. He did some rowing in his childhood, but it was his first time to row a dragon boat.

"It was a great fun and we had a good team," he said after finishing a race. "It's also interesting to see all the people here as well."

Huacao is one of the most international communities in Shanghai as its hosts 3,380 expats from 62 countries and regions, as well as four international schools.

Ti Gong