BEIJING, July 28  -- Chinese Navy training vessel Zhenghe began a seven-day drill in Chinese coastal waters on Monday and, for the first time, 105 national defense students are taking part.

The students are from Peking and Tsinghua universities, two of China's finest.

The ship is set to sail through the Bohai and Yellow seas and will visit the naval bases of Yantai, Weihai and Qingdao.

This is the first offshore student training event on such a large scale, and will cover chart work, vessel maintenance and navigation watch, among other routine activities.

The students will visit naval academies on the voyage and receive patriotism education to promote their sea power consciousness.