The Motorola International University Regatta 2001 will be held in September in Beijing.

The rowing event, to be held on the Kunyu River, will attract teams from universities such as Oxford and Cambridge of Britain, Harvard and Yale of the United States, and China's Tsinghua, Fudan and Shanghai Jiaotong universities.

Eight universities will vie for the title on Beijing's Kunyu River for a total distance of six kilometers. The Kunyu River is one of Beijing's most scenic routes linking the urban Yuyuantan Lake with the Summer Palace's Kunming Lake.

The rowing duels between Oxford and Cambridge date back 172 years and Harvard and Yale have contested rowing 155 times. Tsinghua University and Peking University have successfully gone head to head on the water three times.

Thanks to their participation, rowing has become one of the top five most watched sports in the world, according to the International Olympic Committee.

The event is co-organized by the China State Sports General Administration, the Beijing municipal government and Motorola (China) Electronics Co. Ltd.(China Daily)