Day 1: I chose to go on this trip as I found it a new experience and very enriching. This is the first time I am going overseas by plane with my classmates and 2014 being the last year as a class together, I hope that I will be able to know more of my classmates better through this trip. The trip will also allow me to have better knowledge of China's way of life, its culture and history, even experiencing it myself. I also hope to improve my Chinese speaking.
Day 2: We first went to Chenghuangmiao. It is a temple dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan, and now, together with the surrounding streets, are part of a large pedestrian zone dedicated to restaurants and retail. We found two Starbucks outlet there. It was also there that we realised we can do quite a bit of bargaining in China. Next we went to the Bund and French Concession. The view there was very breathtaking as we could see Shanghai's skyline, including the 'bottle opener' building, which I learnt a lot about. I learnt that the original design was a circular aperture at the top of the building, but was replaced by a trapezium when the initial design began facing protests from some Chinese, who considered it too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag. In the afternoon, we went to the Book City. It was seven stories high and filled with books, mostly Chinese books. Lastly, we went to Nanjing Road. It was a street filled with shopping malls and we spotted many well-known brands there. However, the things sold there were not cheap so we could not buy much.
Day 3: Today, we woke up early in the morning to go Shanghai Nanyang High School. Each group was assigned a buddy and my buddy was 小荷. She is 16 years old and an only child. She shared that she wanted a sibling as it was boring by herself sometimes. She also told me more about her school. In RV, we have to follow strict dress codes or we will get punished. Her school has two sets of uniforms, full uniform and half uniform, but unlike RV, the students there can choose what they want to wear to school each day themselves and they can wear any type of shoes, as long as it is covered. They also have lunch together as a class in the classroom, whereas we have it separately in the canteen. I also enjoyed myself looking at them make 香包s and 粽子s. We then went for lunch at Hai Di Lao. I was anticipating the meal as I have heard that their service was extraordinarily good. However, after experiencing it myself, I feel that Hai Di Lao is overrated. Firstly, they only explained the origin of their name to one of the tables. Secondly, our seniors told us that they are workers who will stand beside the table and hand you cloths to wipe your spectacles when there is steam on it and they will also pump soap onto your hands and serve you paper towels to wipe your hands dry. I did not see anybody handing out the spectacle cloths and when I went to wash my hands, there was nobody there. The food was average. Lastly, we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre. There was a 3D model of most of Shanghai and it was very interesting looking at the miniature buildings.
Day 4: In the morning, we went to Shanghai Nanyang High again. This time, my group attended a Mother Tongue lesson. The lesson was on 鲁迅. I tried to read along during their read-alouds but to no avail, I could not catchup. Even what they were discussing in class that day, I had to process it in my mind first before understanding what they said. I realised that I really have to improve my Chinese. After that, Mr Lu brought us to Oriental Dreamworks. There, I saw how movies were created and how much time and effort had to be put in. It was an eye opener for me as I never thought movies were made like that. Next, we went to Fudan University. A few RV seniors and a Dunman High senior gave us a tour around the campus. They also told us the Chinese students are highly competitive and will cram every minute to study. They are also very smart as they are usually the top few from their provinces. Our seniors have to work very hard to keep up with the Chinese students. Our seniors also mentioned that there are bias ness against international students like them but an advantage of going to a school overseas is that you get to know people from other parts of the world, not just Singapore.
Day 5: We went to Zhejiang University today. The campus was really really big. On the bus tour around campus, we saw two stadiums, two libraries, a three stories high canteen and a hospital. There were also separate dormitories for local and international students. From the teachers' talk, I learned that ZJU is a combination of four universities and that 60% of the campus is still under construction. The school focuses on fostering technical research and scientific design in her undergraduates so that they are empowered to create high tech innovations in the workforce upon graduation, changing 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China'. In the afternoon, we went to Qinghefang Ancient Street. As the name suggests, the buildings there are designed like olden shophouses and the things sold there were very 'traditional', like traditional handmade goodies and traditional handmade craft works.
Day 6: We went to many places today. Firstly, we went to the Yuefei Mausolemn. It is commonly know in Chinese as Yuewang Temple. It is a temple built in honor of Yuefei. Inside, kneeling in front of Yuefei and his son's tomb, are four statues. They are Qin Hui, his wife Wang Shi, Moqi Xie and Zhang Jun. They are the ones who trapped and killed Yuefei and his son, Yueyun. These statues are hated by many Chinese, even up till now. We noticed a sign above the statues saying '文明游览，请勿吐痰'. This show that people still hate them to the point that they still spit on them. When we were there, we saw a man who "spat" on the statues too. He did not really spit and but he did the action, showing his disgust. Yuefei's loyal sidekicks were also mentioned in the temple. Next, we went for a cruise around West Lake. We took an 30 minute boat ride and the guide pointed out to us the Broken Bridge and the Leifeng pagoda. I learnt that the Broken Bridge was not broken, but because '断家' lived at the ends of the bridge, the bridge got its name, '断桥'. We then got the chance to climb up to the top of Leifeng Pagoda. The climb was tiring but it was worth it. From the top, we had the full view of West Lake and we could even see the tiny artificial islands in the centre. I learnt that the pagoda we know now is not the the original one. The original pagoda collapsed in 1924 due to disrepair and was rebuilt in 2002. The pagoda is known worldwide for the Legend of the White Snake, and it was said to be the final abode that the Madame White Snake lived in. In the late afternoon, we went back to Qinghefang as many of us did not have enough time to look through everything the previous day.
Day 7: On our way back to Shanghai, we stopped at Qibao Ancient Town. It was a very crowded place filled with mostly local people. As there were too many people and we had to keep up in order to not get lost, we are not able to look through the shops, but a quick glance shows 'traditional' items were sold. I saw shops selling handmade bags and shoes and popular local food like '臭豆腐'. After lunch, we went to Tianzifang Cultural & Arts Zone. There were small craft stores, coffee shops, and art studios. The things sold there were not cheap at all. However, I like the street as it feels very peaceful, with handcrafted souvenirs and the aroma of coffee everywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment