Ready, set, row!

On July 19, twelve dragon boat team members from the Cross Cultural Internship Program (CCIP) held their first practice at Flushing Corona Park in preparation for their upcoming race at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, which is held annually in August.

Although it was their first time rowing, the students quickly adjusted to both rowing the boat and rowing as a team.

"It's challenging, of course," said co-captain Diane Xi, who studies business design and innovation at the University of Hong Kong. "But we're confident that we will do well at the festival. We are pretty excited to compete."

The students plan to practice more next week to improve their speed.

"It's all about teamwork. We can't row straight or fast without working together, so that's going to be our main focus," added co-captain Ryan Chan, a second-year creative media student at City University of Hong Kong.

The Dragon Boat Festival is a multicultural sporting event held in New York to celebrate the fifth moon of the Lunar Calendar and is one of the largest dragon boat events in the United States. It began in 1990 on the Hudson River in Battery Park City and was first promoted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York City.