High spirits bring EMBA students through Gobi Challenge

Students from the EMBA (Chinese) programme has completed the School of Business - Xuanzang Road Gobi Challenge (玄奘之路商學院戈壁挑戰賽) held from 22nd to 25th May. It was the second time CityU taking part in the event, with the team size increased to 34 comprising EMBA students, faculty and staff, and their family members. The CityU team excelled in the challenge and achieved a remarkable result by winning the “Best Endeavour Prize” and the “Shackleton Prize”, in recognising its strong team spirits and the highest completion rate in the challenge.    

More than 2,000 EMBA students from 49 business schools in regions like mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore dashed across the Gobi Desert in the four-day endurance footrace, which included the warm-up trek on the first day and the competition race in the next three days. Participants were required to complete the full course of 116km in the uninhabited Gobi Desert; crossing through a variety of section including ore and gravel roads, saline-alkali lands, hills and sand dunes, with a temperature difference of 20 degrees between day and night. This race highly demands participant’s physical strength, teamwork and endurance. 

The EMBA students had trained for months for this annual challenge, which was in its 11th year. They went on several training trips in Nanjing, China and in Hong Kong before the competition.

Dr Ron Kwok Chi-wai, Assistant Dean (Career Services) of the College and the captain of the CityU Gobi Challenge, was delighted to lead the EMBA students to participate in this meaningful competition. He believed the challenge has shown tremendous good qualities of our students: determination, fortitude, perseverance, positivity, and etc. It was a valuable experience that stimulated their boundless potential in overcoming adversities.

The three sub-teams representing the College were:

Captain: Dr Ron Kwok Chi-wai
Chief student leader: Wen Wang

Liping Zhu said, "I almost used up all my power to reach the finishing line. I was so touched to see my teammates and myself to complete the race in four days under such harsh environment. I have set my best record, and I will keep fighting for my future!" 

Xiaozhen Guo was inspired by the competition, and believed it was the strong willpower that kept her going on, “We need to accept our weakness and imperfections, and believe that we would ultimately achieve our goals with perseverance.”

Prof Houmin Yan, Dean of the College, Prof Wenyu Dou, Associate Dean (Graduate Programmes) and Director of the EMBA (Chinese) Programme, Prof Wayne Yu, Assistant Dean (Executive Education), and Dr Yong Wang, Associate Director of the EMBA (Chinese) Programme, showed strong support in the event and expressed their appreciations to the teams’ achievements.

The Gobi Challenge is an annual competition for EMBA students from global Chinese business schools to participate in. The competition is held in the Gobi Desert on the border between Gansu Province and Xinjiang; along the Guazhou section of the Silk Road, Dunhuang in Western China. It was previously a major stop on the historical Silk Road linking China with India and Europe. The challenge originated as an international cultural event named Pilgrimage Journey of Xuanzang. It retraced the footsteps of Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist monk of the Tang Dynasty, on his journey to India. Along the way, participants had an opportunity to discover Xuanzang’s values and his impact on Chinese culture, and appreciate the spectacular scenery and landscapes of the Gobi Desert.

For more information about the Gobi Challenge, please visit website.
To learn more about the EMBA programme, please click here.