Day 1:
We arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport in the evening. Excitement
buzzed around- for it was our first overseas learning trip together. Upon arriving
the airport, we collected our baggage and headed down to the coach waiting for
us in the carpark. Through heavy eyelids, we were mesmerized by the night view
of shanghai- we watched in fascination as a skyscraper blasted into a myriad of
colors. We had our dinner- our first dinner, and in fact, our first dinner
together in shanghai. We soon settled into the hotel and not long after, fell
into deep, peaceful lumber.
Day 2:
Groggily, we dragged ourselves down to breakfast, for
myself, I ate a bun, some dough fritters and drank some juice. We soon arrived
in the chenghuangmiao. I was intrigued by the place- it inculcated both
traditional and new together- temples stood firm on the grounds, dragonflies
swarmed the ponds, people took a breather in the pagoda, while others were
shopping. There were many trendy clothes and gadgets, and we could not help
ourselves but to snag a few items on the way. We bought a few peanut candies
that were claimed to soothe our throats- turns out, it was true! We drove past
the French concession, coming to a stop at the bund. Skyscrapers towered before
us, and we could not help but to snap a few pictures. We also went to the
shanghai book city, which stood seven levels tall. The merchandise ranged from Chinese
literacy books to medical books, medical books to Chinese’s’ myths and legends,
this to the various CDs lined up on the sixth level. There were even English classics,
including authors like Shakespeare, mary shelly and etc. I feel that the book
city is like the bookstore, borders, in Singapore. Customers were able to flip
through the books and browse through them. We then went to Nanjing road. I realized
that there were numerous high end shops there, and was different from the
common shopping districts in shanghai.
Day 3:
We arrived at the shanghai Nanyang High School, late. Traffic
jams and delays were our excuse, but the main reason, was our inefficiency and
time management. We were further ashamed when the principal stood, anxiously
waiting for us to arrive. Not displaying a hint of annoyance, he greeted us
warmly. Introductions were made with the students there and we fell into chatty
banter as we got taught on how to make a sweet smelling bag, also known as香包. It
was said to repel insects and pests. A student later brought us up for a tour
around the school. The students were organized, and they walked in a quick but
orderly fashion. I learned that they ate their lunch in their classroom, and
that they used computers which were held in glass cases in the classrooms. After
the immersion, we went to the Haidilao Hotpot restaurant. We were excited as we
had received good reviews on both the service and the food there. However we
were a little dismayed and felt that it was too overrated. We felt that the waiters
were biased, for the table with the teachers and the principal was served more
food than our table.
Day 4:
I did not attend the school immersion today as I felt
a little sick and had to get a little rest. I learned later that they attended
the Chinese students’ lessons. However they later found out that the lesson had
been taught before and had felt cheated. Nevertheless, they could not bear to
part ways with the Chinese students, not before singing立化情. They later
went to the dreamworks company, where they experienced how to make various cartons,
one of which, the ever popular “Kongfu Panda”. They even got a little sneak peak
of the upcoming movie! After that, I was feeling better and decided to join
them to the visit to Fudan University. We met some RV seniors there, who gave
us a little tour of the school. I realized that despite their not as developed
facilities, Fudan was able to produce top students all over the world. Through this,
I learned that if we worked hard and persevered, no matter the facilities, we
will get good results. We then went to the Wenmiao road, where we got a little
insight of the backyards of the chinese’s homes. Their homes were really
crammed, and the back ally was quite dirty.
Day 5:
Today we left for Hangzhou in a coach, which took
around to hours. In the afternoon, we went to the Zhejing University
International Design Institure. The school was quite big and well facilitated.
Day 6:
On our second last day, we went to the west lake,
which was picturesque. It was calm, peaceful. We also went to the Leifeng
Pagoda. I learned that there was an older pagoda, but it was burned down. A new
pagoda was later built. The pagoda was very tall- it even has a lift! As the
lifts were too crowded, we decided to take the stairs. It was tiring and long,
but was worth it! We got a view of the west lake, and could not help but to
take a lot of pictures. We also went to the broken bridge, where we learned that
the bridge was not actually broken, but was named after a family named 断. We
later went to the yuefei mausoleum. There were statues of two men in a cage, with
a sign hung above the statues, asking people not to spit onto the statues. I learned
that these two men had caused the death of yuefei, who was an honourable man
who had contributed a lot to china.
Day 7:
Today is the last day and we went to the Qibao Ancient
town. It was very crowded and the smell of 臭豆腐 hung in the
air. We later went to tianzifang, which was quite different from the rest of
the shopping districts we went to. It was an art zone and the shops were
selling various jewelry and clothes which highlighted the artsy features. We then
took a flight back to Singapore. I feel that this trip was a meaningful one as
we were exposed to the different cultures of china. We also learned to appreciate
the things we have in life.
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