May 29, 2009 -- A 10am crash course in Dragon Boat sailing, and a lunch of the festival's traditional mouth-watering Zong Zi (glutinous rice balls stuffed with a variety of fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves) gave 19 CEIBS MBA students all the skills and fortification needed for their team to participate in today's 2nd annual Shanghai Foreign Student Dragon Boat Race.
The race began at 2pm after an opening ceremony hosted by Chinese government officials and directors of East China University of Science and Technology, where the competition took place. After an exhausting 200m race against the clock, the CEIBS team placed 8th out of 17 universities from all over Shanghai. The CEIBS team's official time was 57.56 seconds.
The contest gave the CEIBS students an opportunity to expand their network for future academic, business and social cooperation via their interaction with international students from several different universities from around Shanghai.
During the closing ceremony all participants were awarded with a Dragon Boat shaped trophy commemorating the legend behind the Dragon Boat festival: the ultimate sacrifice of Qu Yuan, an ancient poet/philosopher who struggled against a corrupt regime and the villagers' efforts to prevent fish from feeding on Qu Yuan's body.
CEIBS Dragon Boat team members:
Beauchamp, Renaud Canada
Fernandez, Jesus Mexico
Garcia, Javier Mexico
Han, Jennifer Korea
Hayashi, Rika Japan
Hsieh, Hanson Taiwan
Ingles, David Christopher Philippines
Jimenez Rosa, Antonio Spain
Kan, Margaret Canada
Liao, Sami Canada
Ly, Chi Hao Switzerland
Nagy, Thaddaeus Germany
Nixon, Devon USA
Ou-Smolinski, Christian Argentina
Shih, Kenny USA
Shihab, Ammar Kuwait
Wang, James USA
Yang, Robyn Korea
Yi, Joo Korea
Zhang, Jess Canada
-- Reporting by Javier Garcia (MBA2008)
