The first-ever Dragon Boat Race was held on June 17 in the Wuhan East Lake with participation from Wuhan University (WHU) and Huazhong University of Technology and Science (HUST). More than 44 players from both schools finally made a tie.

Jia Yaobin, the executive vice-mayor of Wuhan, Li Xiaohong, the president of WHU, together with Li Peigen, the president of HUST, attended the opening ceremony. President Li Peigen assimilated the two dragon boats by the two schools to two little real dragons in his original limericks, while Li Xiaohong said that the players should be friends outside of the race despite the intense competition.

During the race, the WHU team won the first set. The HUST team put forth their efforts and won the second round. The two teams were even in the end.

"I`m quite satisfied with the consequence and the intensive 3-month training was rewarding," Pan Xiangbei, a freshman from HUST majoring in Physics said. He continued, “This race was an unforgettable experience and made my campus life colorful and wonderful. I`ll continue to take part in the dragon boat race next year.”

"It is a great opportunity to build a sense of teamwork in the students," said Li Peigen. He noted that cooperation was one of the main points of success, "No cooperation, no success".

"We are going to hold the dragon boat race annually in the future. In 2013, Oxford, Cambridge and Yale will probably be invited to Wuhan to compete with WHU and HUST in the race," said Li Xiaohong. He was fairly confident in saying that WHU and HUST are comparable to the Chinese Ivy league in Wuhan.

Edited by Fu Bo and Rakhee