Many thanks to Ed for keeping our readers up with the news here in China.
Today has been a simply amazing day. After another marvelous
breakfast prepared by the hotel, we loaded the bus and headed to the
race course. Our police escort broke through a sea of people and we
eventually made it to the "main event" at the water sports center.
Nearly the entire town was in attendance. The sun was shining
brightly and there were very few clouds. Giant Chinese lanterns and
hot air balloons filled the clear sky. Our hosts told us that many of
the dogs in Chengdu bark at the sun because they very rarely see it
through the clouds.
The opening ceremonies were simply breathtaking. Fireworks, smoke,
thousands of doves, and flying parachutes all saturated the atmosphere
and led to an extraordinary morning of racing.
(Trinity and Peking University. Photo by Nadia Zahran)
Now to the racing: After a rapid fire mix of Chinese and English the
starting command was shouted and the flag dropped. The boats were
off. In what was a very short, very aggressive race, the Trinity 8
pulled through and won the prelim. We will be representing the United
States in the Grand Final tomorrow (Sunday) morning.
After our vicious race we were encouraged to observe the dragon boat
races and other festivities of the morning. Perhaps the most
entertaining of the festivities was what I would like to title "The
Duck Hunt." Hundreds of ducks were thrown from a fast moving speed
boat into the water. Surrounding the speed boat were nearly 30 dragon
boat teams. We assumed that the objective was to capture as many
ducks as possible. Grown men were seen diving into the water after
the ducks. I believe we have many photos and, in fact, a few videos
to show just how crazy this tradition was.
We have all returned to the hotel and will be resting this afternoon /
evening in preparation for the Final tomorrow. Thank you all for your
support in following us on this truly amazing trip to China and many
thanks to our hosts.
Pleasant dreams to all of our readers in the US.
Gary Moffat C'08
starting command was shouted and the flag dropped. The boats were
off. In what was a very short, very aggressive race, the Trinity 8
pulled through and won the prelim. We will be representing the United
States in the Grand Final tomorrow (Sunday) morning.
After our vicious race we were encouraged to observe the dragon boat
races and other festivities of the morning. Perhaps the most
entertaining of the festivities was what I would like to title "The
Duck Hunt." Hundreds of ducks were thrown from a fast moving speed
boat into the water. Surrounding the speed boat were nearly 30 dragon
boat teams. We assumed that the objective was to capture as many
ducks as possible. Grown men were seen diving into the water after
the ducks. I believe we have many photos and, in fact, a few videos
to show just how crazy this tradition was.
We have all returned to the hotel and will be resting this afternoon /
evening in preparation for the Final tomorrow. Thank you all for your
support in following us on this truly amazing trip to China and many
thanks to our hosts.
Pleasant dreams to all of our readers in the US.
Gary Moffat C'08
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