A total of 24 teams composed of 360 academicians, teachers, researchers and students from local universities and research institutes will compete in the first Shenzhen X9 Alliance of Universities and Institutes Rowing League set to be held between Saturday and Nov. 15 along the Dasha River in Nanshan and the Maozhou River in Guangming. Team members practice rowing skills. File photo Rowing has been widely regarded as a sport that requires a lot of teamwork and is very popular among universities worldwide. The first Shenzhen X9 Alliance of Universities and Institutes Rowing League Around X-Lake Sciensity is designed in a bid to further enhance exchanges and cooperation among higher education institutions in the city, to promote the sport of rowing and to support the city in becoming an international sports city, according to the event’s organizers. The game will adopt a Total Points system to determine the champion, first and second prizes, plus other awards. The rowing league’s opening Saturday will also see the establishment of the X9 Alliance of Universities and Institutes. The alliance is a nonprofit and unincorporated higher education union. Its primary members include Shenzhen University, the Southern University of Science and Technology, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen (HITSZ), Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peng Cheng Laboratory, XINSTITUTE, Shenzhen innoX and Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute, Tianjin University (GTSI).