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 showing off their dramatic chops to the public.

Students from China Agricultural University showcased a highlight from their production 'Song of Farming'. The real world fictional play 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 very beginning of his drama career.

XU MUQI, STUDENT CHINA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY LEADING ACTOR IN 'SONG OF FARMING' "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."

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

HAN LONGXIN CHINA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY LEADING ACTRESS IN 'SONG OF FARMING' "This is an original play created by students, from the screenplay to set design. We also went to Quzhou gain first hand knowledge of the subject matter and history. Sometimes we spent a whole nights rehearsing, trying to make it better and better."

'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 more on story when creating their work.

LIN YINYU DRAMA DIRECTOR & DRAMA TEACHER "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."

This year's festival received 79 entries. 71 Drama Societies from 55 Chinese colleges and universities offered their repertoire.

Since its inception in 2001, more than 11-hundred higher learning institutions have participated in the festival.