The canoeing with the theme of “Learning Huai’an Culture, and Seeking Treasures on the Canal” which was suspended for a week because of the typhoon Lichma resumed last week, and more than twenty families took part in the match. Two French children who came to China for vacation were particularly conspicuous. They had a “Sino-French Friendly Match” with their Chinese friends.

The canoeing started at dusk. The children could not wait for the start of the match although they were simply trained. A brother and a sister from a French family might not understand the coach’s teaching in Chinese very well so that they went straight forward like an arrow without avoiding other canoes. They left other Chinese contestants far behind, but they finally were stranded in the shallows. Therefore, they had to shout for help in English and French on the boat. Because of the low water level and lack of professional skills, other competitors dared not to help them or their canoes would be trapped in the shallows too. Fortunately, they remembered the life buzzers on their life jackets and blew hard at once.

Hearing the continuous whistle, the lifeguards of the water sports club rowed to the two children immediately. It turned out that the water level lowered recently so that their canoe was stranded on rocks under water. The lifeguard pushed the canoe gently with his paddle, and then pulled it back into the water. The two children were so excited that they said “Thank you” in Chinese they had just learned.