The Golden Hedgehog University Students' Drama Festival, formerly known as the China University Students' Drama Festival, wrapped up its 18th edition in Beijing this past weekend. College students from around China brought their drama pieces to the capital city during the two-week long event and showed off their dramatic chops to the public.

"Song of Farming," a real-world fictional play by China Agricultural University students won this year's Golden Hedgehog Award – the top prize of the festival.

Set against the backdrop of the 1970s, the play follows the university's history concerning agricultural research. Also explored are their efforts to work with farmers in Quzhou County in North China's Hebei Province to alleviate poverty.

For Xu Muqi, one of the leading actors, the show was the beginning of his drama career.

"After graduating from high school this summer, I learned I had been admitted by the university's drama department. I called the school office and asked if there was any chance for me to perform on stage. It so happened that some students were preparing a show for the festival and they invited me to join them. This is how I got involved in the event," said Xu.

Xu and his team worked closely together for their first appearance at the festival. 

"This is an original play created by students, from the screenplay to set design. We also went to Quzhou gain firsthand knowledge of the subject matter and history. Sometimes we spent a whole night rehearsing, trying to make it better and better," said Han Longxin, the leading actress in the show.

"Song of Farming" was one of the 11 selected plays competing for awards. The festival has set up 10 prize categories to recognize young actors and playwrights. But none of the entries took home this year's Best Screenplay Award. Insiders say the reason is college participants still need to focus on more nuanced stories when creating their work.

"These young artists were born in the 1990s and 2000s. They haven't gone through any hard times. When they are creating a new play, they would prefer a happy story. But life is not just about happiness. The difficulties and setbacks in life are also great fortunes, so I think they need to focus more on the stories reflect hardship in life when writing a screenplay," said Lin Yinyu, a drama director and teacher.

This year's festival received 79 entries. A total of 71 drama societies from 55 Chinese colleges and universities offered their repertoire. Since its inception in 2001, more than 1,100 higher learning institutions have participated in the festival.