2F CID Group 2

Waking up at the crack of dawn, we were fresh and all ready to go. That day, the main point on our itinerary was the visit to Huangshan Scenic Area (黄山风景区). Huangshan is a mountain range in the southern Anhui province located in eastern China that is famous for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly shaped granite peaks, Huangshan pine trees, hot springs, winter snow, and view of the clouds in the sky. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China's major tourist destinations, it is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature as well as modern photography. Huangshan is also a well known place for high quality Chinese teas such as the Huangshan Maofeng Tea, Keemun Black Tea and Blooming Tea. 

After a filling breakfast, we headed out for a short 15 minute walk to the bus stop to board a bus that would take us to the cable car station around the foot of Huangshan. At the cable car station, we got into our groups and boarded a cable car which ascended Huangshan's steep and rocky slopes, slopes meant only for professionals to scale. The overall ascend was smooth and pretty fast, with a bonus of being comfortable. However, the air outside that day was relatively foggy and misty, making it hard to see and admire the greenery and nature present outside the cars. Once we got onto the mountain, the cool wind could be felt caressing our skin and faces. The air was definitely much cooler than that at the foot of Huangshan, where we started off. Being from a country that is hot and humid practically all year round, it was a refreshing change that felt great.

Before we set off on our actual hike, we were briefed by our guide and teachers about what to look out for while on the mountain, most of which were part of nature while others were of tourist or man-made structures. With that, we started on our hike. Uneven steps were aplenty and we walked up and down them for what seemed like an eternity. It was definitely tiring, but worth it. Not only did we get to burn calories, we also got to breathe in fresh air and admire the stunning scenery of our surroundings. There was also quite a lot of people that day, everybody eagerly taking pictures of the breath-taking views. The entire hike was basically cycles of walk, stop, listen, repeat. Indeed, though full of arduous walking, through this cycle, we did learn much from the guide's explanation of the different plants and rocks, just to name a few, on Huangshan. It was a pity, though, that the weather this particular day was not all that good. Though we did not experience heavy downpours, the sky was filled with dark clouds and fog, making it difficult or even impossible to see some of the infamous scenic rocks on Huangshan that we were there to see. Despite this, we did try to make the best of our visit by appreciating the nature that was everywhere around us. Though not as exciting, it left us feeling as though we were in another world.

A particular episode that happened on the mountain was, and still is, significantly unforgettable to me. We had scaled to one of the highest peaks of the mountain and were faced with a rather slippery surface that we had to cross to get down. At that time, many of us panicked. However, we held each other's hands and led each other down slowly, one by one. This episode really showed the true spirit of the teamwork of our class, a value that can only be truly tested when faced with a hurdle or obstacle, something that I really did not know we had. It really brought us closer as a class, making us come together with the same goal in mind. Hopefully, will have this spirit when overcoming challenges together in the future. Only if we do have it then can we succeed together. 

After the continuous walking and hiking up stairs and slopes, we were all tired and famished. It was then that we headed to a restaurant in a hotel located on Huangshan. The fact that there were hotels on Huangshan did surprise me a little. Wouldn't building these kinds of buildings be harmful to the environment? Besides, with greenery, wildlife and above all, nature being all around, wouldn't many living creatures fall ill and die? These questions sure have straightforward yeses to them, but the real question is whether the harming of such precious living things is really acceptable or not. With different opinions from different people, it has proven to be a debatable one. While businessmen see the building of such buildings as opportunities to earn money off tourists, botanists and animal lovers see it as huge threats to the wildlife they love so much and want to learn more about. There being two sides of a coin is inevitable, however, I would have to stand on the side of the botanists and animal lovers. I personally feel that nature is extremely important to preserve. Plants provide food for us and could have medical abilities, while animals are lives too, and every life is precious. I could go on and on about both their rights and importance, but this line is enough to say it all. Anyway, coming back to the meal. The food was just like the food in any other restaurant in China, except probably a lot more expensive. This is due to the fact that the extra labour force required to carry all the ingredients up the mountain has to be paid for, and due to the bulk and weight of them, the amount is not small. However, there are plenty of visitors to Huangshan, hence, the restaurant need not worry about losing customers. After all, whether on a mountain or not, humans still need to eat.

When we were done with lunch, we started to descend Huangshan, this time also by cable car. The cable cars we took this time were much larger and could fit much more people. However, the journey was less smooth than the first one as there were a couple of bumps along the way. After successfully getting down to the foot of the mountain, we once again headed for the bus and braced ourselves for the upcoming 3.5 hour long road trip. Overall, this trip to Huangshan may not have been the most informative one, but it has definitely allowed us, a class of teenagers who spends most of our time staring at our mobile devices, to appreciate nature and take in the beauty it has to show.

The time spent on the bus, being an exceptionally long one, was used partially for resting and partially for discussion. We had discussed about the things that we had seen and observed at Huangshan and the purpose of them. This helped hone and sharpen our observation and evaluation skills, two skills vital to our lives. Even though it would take forever and be irrelevant for me to type every part of our discussion out, this discussion should not be belittled as it's importance is greater than one would think.

After our discussion, we also had a short debate on a mind-numbing topic: Does tourism preserve or destroy Mount Huangshan? Using the Paul's wheel was required of us when answering this question.The class was split into two sides, one taking the stand of preserve and the other taking the stand of destroy. My side was given the stand that tourism preserves Mount Huangshan. However, I cannot say that I agree fully with this statement. Although tourism does preserve Huangshan in ways like letting tourists learn more about the nature of Huangshan and teaching them the importance of preserving it, it also does destroy it in the sense that it encourages businessmen to construct buildings on the mountain for tourists to conduct activities in which would be harmful to the nature on Huangshan. Hence, this question is mostly based on a person's opinion of what is most important and what is least important.

After the long bus ride, we ended the day off with dinner and a drive back to hotel for some well-deserved rest. In conclusion, although we did not learn much about the many aspects of China besides cultural ones from today's visit, it did allow me to further appreciate the beauty nature has to offer. 

Yet another day of travelling was ahead of us. After breakfast at the hotel, we headed straight to the Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum (程大位珠算博物馆). Upon reaching the museum, which was conveniently set up in the house that Cheng Dawei had previously lived in, we were brought around by a guide who showed around and told us about the many different kinds of abacus used over the centuries. Despite some of the stories and information being too difficult for me to understand, I found it interesting to see the myriad of different abacus tools, some of which might even have been used hundreds of years ago. One thing I did understand that left an impact on me was the fact that Cheng Dawei spent just about his entire life researching on this mathematical tool. This clearly shows his passion towards mathematics using the abacus. Passion is an important trait of a person who aspires to do well in something. Without passion, a person will never do as well as others in anything, just because this person will lack the drive and motivation to do this particular thing to the best of his ability. Hence, Cheng Dawei's passion for mathematics using the abacus is undeniable and was probably what propelled him to such great heights. 

With the previous place we visited being the actual home of a well-known historical figures, a question close to the hearts of all Singaporeans' comes to mind: Should the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew's house be demolished following his wishes, or should it be preserved and turned into a museum or heritage site? As seen frequently on the news, this is indeed a mind-numbing question that the family members of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the Government and many fellow Singaporeans all have different opinions on. On one hand, since Mr Lee Kuan Yew stated in his will that he wanted his Oxley Road home demolished, his family members want to respect his wishes and do as he says, on the other hand, however, the Government and the public strongly believe that his house should be preserved due to its historical significance. In my opinion, I feel that since Mr Lee Kuan Yew wants his house to be demolished so strongly that he wrote about it in his will and told it to the Cabinet, we should abide by his wishes. As PM Lee Hsien Loong said to end off his eulogy for Mr Lee, “Mr Lee Kuan Yew built Singapore. To those who seek Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s monument, Singaporeans can reply proudly: ‘look around you’.” Indeed, we do not need Mr Lee's house to be preserved to be reminded of him and his contributions. Mr Lee built Singapore. Singapore should be enough for us to be reminded of and to appreciate him. Hence, though everybody knows that Mr Lee Kuan Yew is a great figure that deserves to be remembered and respected, these need not be done through the preservation of his house, but rather, through the country he spent his entire life building. In all, respecting Mr Lee's wish in his last will and testament is probably the last thing we can do for him, and we should do it. 

Next, we headed to Tunxi Ancient Street (屯溪古街), a street filled with stores and stalls selling Chinese traditional snacks and items. It was supposed to be visited yesterday but had to be pushed forward to today due to the lack of time. Walking into the entrance of the actual street, I was not surprised. It would remind just anyone of Singapore's very own Chinatown, and this is not just because it is a street in China. The stores and stalls sold things such as Chinese brushes, Chinese fans, Chinese malted candy and practically everything Chinese, just like the shops in Singapore's Chinatown do. 

Before we explored the street on our own, the teachers gave us a task and a few questions related to the task to answer. The task was to take a photo of a traditional handicraft, snack or diminishing trade on the Cultural Street. The following are the questions that were asked:

- Why do you choose that?

- What does it tell you about the culture, heritage and development of the Tunxi Street?

- What kind of entrepreneurship and creativity have the shop owners displayed in keeping this trade alive and catering to the needs of the tourists? 

- What are some of the older trades in Singapore that you think will disappear given ten to fifteen years down the road?

- How do you think such trades can be transformed to keep up with time? 

This is the photo that I have taken for the task:

The following are my answers to all the five above questions: 

- I chose to take a picture of this stick of traditional Chinese malted candy as malted candy is an extremely well-known traditional Chinese snack that is sold at almost every store that sells traditional Chinese things. The fact that it is, too, found at Tunxi Ancient Street just makes it stand out more. Malted candy used to be loved by kids and adults of all ages in the past, but now, with the growing variety of sweet treats, malted candy is slowly being forgotten. This has resulted in malted candy becoming a diminishing trade. 

- This tells us that the shop owners of the stores along Tunxi Ancient Street embrace the history, heritage and culture of it, making these factors of it strong. Despite some of their trades being diminishing ones, they still do not let go of their businesses and continue to make sure that they keep going, possibly to preserve past traditions so that their trades will be remembered long into the future. Hence, the culture and heritage of Tunxi Ancient Street is strong, so strong that they may never be taken over completely by this rapidly modernising world. As for the development of Tunxi Ancient Street, I personally feel that it has not developed much. However, some of the shop owners have smartly incorporated elements of the newer world into their products for sale. This will be further covered in my next point.

- The shop owners have displayed great entrepreneurship and a ton of creativity in keeping this diminishing trade of malted candy alive. As mentioned in my previous point, one of the actions they have taken is incorporating elements of the newer world into their products for sale. This Minion-shaped malted candy is a great example. In the past, malted candy used to only be created in the shapes of traditional Chinese animals and mystical creatures, however, in the present day, with the Minions from the hit movie, Despicable Me, being so in trend and stuck in the minds of every child, malted candy creators and sellers have resorted to making malted candy into the shapes of it and other cartoon characters like it. This attracts children and tourists alike to buy it out of interest, leading to malted candy and its sellers gaining both popularity and money, in turn making sure that this trade will not disappear and encouraging tourism to Tunxi Ancient Street. 

- Although I really hope that this is something that will not happen, I think that Singapore's very own hawker food and hawker centres may disappear sooner or later. With more and more educated Singaporeans, most will choose to take up more professional office jobs instead of jobs as hawkers, aside from the extremely passionate ones. This will lead to there being less hawkers, and therefore, less hawker food. As hawker food is part of Singapore's culture, it would be a shame to see it be diminished. 

- Nowadays, youngsters are noticeably more attracted to eat in places with cleaner environments. Thus, hawker centres can be kept cleaner and made air-conditioned. This has already been done, actually, with the opening of food courts around town. Food courts not only provide customers with the above advantages, but because of these advantages, they also help to attract tourist. With more popularity from tourism, Singapore's traditional hawker food culture will be promoted and will thus be able to last longer. Another thing that can be noticed is that youngsters tend to enjoy other cuisines such as western and Japanese cuisine. With these cuisines found at only a minimal level in hawker centres, there can be more stalls open selling food of these kinds of cuisines. This will attract youngsters to visit hawker centres more often, maybe even making them willing to try traditional hawker food. 

Lunch was next on the itinerary, and right after it, we drove to Xidi Ancient Village (西递民居群) and Hongcun Ancient Village (宏村民居群) to observe and look around. These two villages are both World Heritage Sites listed by UNESCO and were declared this prestigious title in 2000. Being from the Ming and Qing dynasties, they are both human settlements that reflect the socio-economic structure of a long-lived settled period of Chinese history. 

When we reached the first village, Xidi Ancient Village, which has nearly 200 well-preserved houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties, I was breath taken. The view of the mountains and water by the village was just amazing. The blue and green along with the dirty-white rustic village houses complemented each other perfectly, giving the place a peaceful feeling. The beautiful three-tiered stone arch also blew my mind. Despite its dull grey colour, being so great and tall, it indeed stood out. As we strolled into the actual village, walking along the cemented pavements in between the many houses which were even now actually occupied by people, my classmates were quick to note that every house had a body part of a pig hanging outside on its walls. This is probably because of their village beliefs and rituals, something that we have no right to comment on, though rather interesting. There were also many red papers and lanterns hanging on the outside of the houses. These are probably, similar to the previous point, put up because of their beliefs and rituals. Stepping inside a house that has a black elaborately sculpted decorative piece on top of its doors, we were greeted by a small table that had a tiny clock, a mirror and a few vases, with a painting hung above it. There were also a few sets of calligraphy pieces hung on the walls. Though this is not commonly seen in the present day, I am able to understand that the words written on these calligraphy pieces probably reflect the house owner's beliefs and mottos, or are perhaps just quotes that inspire them. In the middle of the village, there was also a large pond. This pond had probably acted as a water resource for the people in the past, a note as to how much China has developed since then. 

After our long walk around Xidi Ancient Village, we took a short 15 minute bus ride to Hongcun Ancient Village. Once we walked in to Hongcun Ancient Village, a long lake with a cement bridge was much so passionately noticed. The view was indeed just as picturesque as that seen at Xidi Ancient Village. The cross across the bridge was tough, with the steps of the bridge being steep to quite a large extent. Upon crossing the bridge, we were led into a building of an old elementary school, Nanhu Academy, where children in the past received their education which were mostly based on Confucian studies. The classrooms then were noticeably much more spacious than the classrooms both at home and in China, a fact we were going to find out about during our days at the school in Anhui. In addition to tables and chairs, there was also a room at the back for students and teachers to pray to an important figure in the world of education even in this day and age, Confucius. As a matter of fact, children who misbehaved in class were also punished there, right in front of the large portrait of Confucius, forcing remorse over them and making them determined to change for the better. The respect shown to Confucius in the past was this great, making it the probable the reason for the Chinese's strong character when it comes to studies. Walking out of the school and into the location of actual village houses, we realised that the houses were pretty much comparable to those at Xidi Ancient Village, except for the fact that the space outside was larger than that at Xidi, despite the narrower streets, giving children the space to play and for other activities to be conducted. There was also mini art gallery in the village itself, showing the village's love for art. In addition, with it being a tourist site, there were numerous small shops. This made the feeling of really being in an ancient village a little less convincing, though inevitable as as mentioned above, it is a tourist site and no doubt a way of life for some. Visiting the two villages was nevertheless an unforgettable experience, but describing it is a little challenging. You have got to see it to believe it! The marvellous view, the insight into the locals' way of lives, you will not be disappointed.

Comparisons between the two villages have definitely got to be made, even with both of them being similar in many ways. 

Firstly, they are alike in the fact that they are both black and white painted housing settlements that provide housing for people even till now. It will be interesting to note that the black and white painting of the buildings, the classic Huizhou style, make them exceptional in China. This is as just about every building in that particular area is painted this way, with the roofs black and walls white. 

Secondly, they are also alike in the fact that people from both the villages use water from water sources such as lakes and rivers to conduct their basic activities that require water, like bathing. This is as they did not have proper water systems in the past, though they may or may not have built some now. 

Thirdly, they are both surrounded by greenery and nature, partly contributing to their popularity as tourist sites. 

Lastly, the people in both the villages have similar, though not completely the same, practices of decorating their houses in a certain way. For example, they all have a habit of putting red paper with calligraphy written on top outside on the walls of their houses. Additionally, they also have many elaborately sculpted objects decorating the ceilings of their homes. These two practices are special to the Chinese and are unlikely to be found in western countries. 

However, no two places in this world are exactly the same. Hence, a discussion of the differences of the two villages is a must as they are what make them special.

Firstly, there are differences in their architectural form. While the houses in Xidi Ancient Village carry both Anhui and Southern Chinese architectural styles such as having horse-head gables and their walls descending staircase-style according to the angle of the roof, some of the houses in Hongcun Ancient Village have carved wooden beams, a main feature that differs them from the rest. 

Also, the layout of both places are different to a certain extent, though hard to explain. However, Xidi does have its unique three-tiered stone arch that welcomes you as you walk in, while Hongcun only has its bridge, lake and trees. 

Although there is probably a ton more differences, I may have failed to notice them due to the short time spent at each of the villages. Despite this, I have learnt plenty from this rare opportunity to visit the villages on top of a mountain. 

We ended the day off with a trip to the hotel for dinner, a debrief session and a good night's rest. Though busy and tiring, I feel that today has indeed been a fulfilling one with knowledge gained and thinking done. The highlight of my day was definitely the trip to Tunxi Ancient Street, an extremely different shopping experience than my usual frequent trips to air-conditioned shopping malls. Definitely looking forward to day 4! 

Bright and early in the morning after a simple breakfast, we got onto the tour bus to head to Wahaha Company for a factory visit and a mini-museum tour. Wahaha Company is a large-scale Chinese beverage company that has its products sold all over China and in some cases, more often than not, all over the world. As China's leading domestic beverage producer, a title that was given after only a mere 11 years, its drinks are sold everywhere, from street stalls to supermarkets. 

Before we made our visit to Wahaha Company's mini-museum and factory, we were asked to read an article about their achievements and business strategies from the beginning of their company to the time that article was written. However, after our visit to the mini-museum, we realised that Wahaha Company has made a ton of improvements over the years after the article was written. This comes as no surprise as the article was written in 2004, 11 long years before this very year, and with China's booming economic prosperity, businesses are bound to have improved. For example, while the article stated that Wahaha company has roughly 70 subsidiary companies all over China (as of 2004), a poster plastered on the wall at the mini-museum mentioned that it now has roughly 180 subsidiary companies all over China (as of 2015). 70 subsidiary companies to 180 of them - that is a huge difference. Wahaha company is certainly going in the right direction, with much more achievements than that just mentioned.

Out of all of Wahaha Company's uncountable achievements, there was that one achievement that stood out and left a great impact on me. Although it is not so much related to business, it is no doubt something pleasant to hear about. This achievement is of Wahaha Company receiving much recognition from both consumers and authorities for doing charity, for example, donating money to less well-off students. I personally feel that it is extremely heartwarming to know that such a big and successful company is involved in helping those not as fortunate. This is important in making a person remain down to earth and grounded, caring for others and not just themselves. Although it may seem like just a marketing strategy to bring the name of Wahaha Company up to some, we all have to agree that contributing to a good cause, whether in terms of time or money, is an act that deserves recognition. 

Though Wahaha Company's journey was seemingly just full of improvements, they actually faced many challenges. These challenges include: having a lack of funds and in turn, employees, creating products that did not go well with consumers, and having imitation products on the market. Despite these challenges, Wahaha Company rose up to the challenge and came up with solutions to get over them. As an example, to fix the problem of having a lack of funds and employees, Wahaha Company expanded itself by merging with Hangzhou canned food company. This resulted in them having more employees, making work more efficient and in turn, producing more products and gaining more profit. This profit contributed to the company's funds. Hence, this move of merger was undoubtedly a smart one. For this, Wahaha Company's founder, Zong Qinghui, has to be commended for his foresight. 

Besides the mini-museum visit, the factory visit was also most definitely informative, giving us the chance to watch first-hand how bottled drinks are processed and made. The machinery used in the factory were huge and they bottled each drink at lightning speed. This is possibly one of the big secrets of Wahaha Company as to how it became China's leading domestic beverage producer - using machines that could get work completed fast.

After our visit to Wahaha Company, we had lunch before a long 3.5 hour drive to Tunxi. There, we visited Chengkan Xie Yuda Tea Museum and Tea Plantation. On our first stop at the plantation, we were greeted by fields and fields of green tea leaves. Sure enough, besides some occasional rocks and trees, that was all there was. However, despite the place being rather simple, we gained insight on the ecological climatic characteristics of the tea areas and brainstormed on some of the threats associated with the development of tea crops. The factors of threats we brainstormed on include economic, a factor related to costs, social, one related to people, and environmental, which name says it all. With higher costs of living and a growing economy, China is sure to face a higher cost of employment and practically everything else that requires money. This will in turn lead to them unable to hire workers without providing a higher salary. With higher salary given to workers and more money spent on other requirements, the prices of tea leaves will be sure to go up, resulting in less potential buyers, affecting tea's cultural role in countries such as Russia. Tea plantation owners may also face environmental issues such as infertile soil. This, needless to say, will result in less tea leaves sold.

After our stop at the plantation, we visited the tea museum. There, we were brought around by a guide and introduced to the different types of tea and the people who discovered them. Thereafter, we were also brought inside a room with traditional furniture for a taste testing session of the different types of tea the museum sold. We were told about the different health benefits of the different types of tea, such as green tea being able to increase fat burning and chrysanthemum tea helping with the detoxification of the liver. The taste testing session also made me realise that even though tea is tea, there is a huge variety of them, and all of them are special in their own little way. At the end of the session, we were also given the opportunity to purchase some tea leaves home. Despite not buying anything back, I definitely had a new found appreciation for tea, in particular, Chinese tea. 

Next, we were supposed to visit Tunxi Ancient Street. However, due to the lack of time, we went straight for dinner and back to the hotel. This visit was pushed to the next day.

As a conclusion for this second day, I feel that I have definitely learned at least just as much, or maybe even more today than the first day despite the long travelling times. Learning about Wahaha Company's journey through its years in the business industry sparked an interest in me, inspiring me to always work hard, be creative and overcome challenges appropriately, even while helping others. 

Today, before we got onto the plane to set off on our journey to China, we were asked to read and understand the overarching objectives of this trip and tasked to make a list of our own personal goals. These personal goals were goals which we set to accomplish during the upcoming arduous trip, having to travel to a myriad of places in China within a limited period of time.

The guiding questions to aid in the setting of these goals were the following:

1. Why do you chose to go on this trip? 

2. What do you hope to do there?

3.What do wish to learn there?

The following are my brief responses to the respective questions stated above:

1. Even though I am not very willing to give up my badminton trainings and stretching time for this, I am curious of how the history, heritage, culture and economy is like in another country, which in this case is China. In addition, I also want to learn to be more independent by embarking on this school trip without my parents and taking care of myself responsibly with minimal supervision. This includes doing all my laundry by myself and sleeping at the right time without being reminded to. In all, this valuable opportunity to broaden my knowledge and mindset and to practice independence is a treasured one that would be a shame to miss. 

2. I hope to accomplish the overarching objectives of OELP the heads of this subject have set for us. China is a fast-growing country that is so similar yet so different from Singapore. For example, both of our countries are similar in the sense that we are multi-racial, yet different in the variety of different festivals we celebrate. Living in a whole wide world full of different people, it is vital that we take time to understand and learn from each other so as to maintain good diplomatic relations with other countries and to enable all parties to advance together. Additionally, I hope to foster closer bonds with my classmates and make new friends with the students in China. 

3. I wish to learn more about the culture, traditions, beliefs and values the people there uphold. Also, in relation to the School Immersion Programme, I wish to learn more about the education system and the way of life of the students there, that is, how the students learn, eat, sleep, communicate and play on a regular basis in their daily lives. Not just that, I also wish to learn more about the work systems in China from the visits to the few factories. As the future of Singapore, when we grow up and go into the workforce, this will perhaps be useful in helping us come up strategies that can be implemented to improve on various companies' systems. 

I personally feel that the setting of goals carries undeniable importance in our learning during the trip. It enables us to think on our feet and ask necessary and well thought out questions according to the things we hope to learn to the professionals in their fields. This will broaden our mindset when out on the trip which will in turn enhance our otherwise redundant learning.

After we had reached Hangzhou, China, we headed for dinner. Since it was only my second time in China, the food on the table surprised me a little. They were not the kind of food you would see at a typical Chinese restaurant in Singapore. All the dishes on the table looked relatively oily and tasted salty, in particular, an exception to the previous statement, the commonly seen steamed egg. This dish is often found everywhere in Singapore, even in hawker centres, and they are ever so tasty when eaten with vegetables, meat and rice. However, compared to the one served at the restaurant we visited in Hangzhou, the ones found in Singapore seemed so much less flavorful, resulting in mix reactions from everyone. As for me, personally, I found the one in the restaurant way too oily and salty. Despite this, food is food, and it was refreshing to step out of my comfort zone and try a complete different cuisine of food than what I am used to.

When dinner time had ended, we headed for Song Dynasty City, the largest and biggest theme park featuring the civilisation of the Song Dynasty in China. No doubt an educational yet fun park, we had the chance to walk along streets with little stalls selling relatively cheap treats and souvenirs that were based on that during the Song Dynasty. Owing to the fact that the Song Dynasty was a period of ripe feudal society in which the development of economy, science, technology and culture was advanced in the world, the streets were brightly lighted up and the stall tenders and other workers were dressed rather elaborately with more than a single layer of cloth and some accessories, the style during the Song Dynasty. This clearly demonstrates the rich cultural contents during the Song Dynasty.

The main aim at the Song Dynasty City was actually to enjoy a performance of the name 'Romance of Song Dynasty' based on the same period of time. This performance is a large scale one which had previously received the Lotus Award, an award that is given to those with the top honour of Chinese dance. It has gained much recognition and has been performed for millions. Telling the story of the history and culture of Hangzhou through many different tales, myths, legends, historical anecdotes and real historical events mingled with exquisite world-class dancing and jaw-dropping acrobatics, it will leave your mouth hanging wide open. If I could ask the performers at the Song Dynasty Performances a question, it would be: Since the stories, myths and legends that you are performing on were from such a long time ago, was it difficult to understand and immerse yourselves into the respective characters you were playing? After all, getting into character is probably the hardest part in acting. Without a doubt, I felt that I had truly experienced the way of life during the Song Dynasty, a dynasty that arts and performances were well loved, after watching this performance.

 In all, I feel that visitors do indeed truly experience the culture and heritage of China at the Song Dynasty City. The streets and people are decorated and dressed so realistically that you will feel like you are literally living in the past. However, of course, the place might have been a little too magical, an understandable fact just because if the park was just a plain old street, people will show no interest in it. Despite this, there is always a limit to how much you can learn from a place. The Song Dynasty City does provide substantial background information about the Song Dynasty, however, it is admittedly not possible for the entire story of the Song Dynasty to be told within a single park. Although the disadvantage of the lack of information, I feel that the visitors who have paid attention to the important facts of this park do learn enough to at the very least have a background knowledge of this dynasty, one of the most precious ones in the history of China. 

This move of amalgamating cultural and historical aspects into businesses like the Song Dynasty City is indeed a smart and creative one. Not only do they allow visitors to enjoy themselves, they also educate them on their history and culture by allowing them to experience a whole other world of the past. As a matter of fact, Song Dynasty City is not the only business which has succeeded in this aspect. Dian Xiao Er, a chain store selling duck rice in Singapore as well as other countries, has also made their mark in this. With the design of their shop being that of one in the olden days and the duck rice they serve being a traditional delicacy, they definitely will leave an impact on customers, allowing them to experience the history and culture of the Chinese. 

Although today is only the first day, I feel that it has been a fruitful one with numerous goals set and much knowledge acquired. We even got to relate this knowledge to a place very close to our hearts, Singapore. Throughout the trip, I hope to gain more awareness about the many aspects of China and create more experiences that I will never forget. 

In the airport before we took off, we did a reflection on what we wanted to achieve and what did we want to learn, and expectations of the trip. I wanted to learn about the education and culture of China.

On the night of the first day, we went to SongCheng where we watched a play about China. It was about the past and present of China and showed off the graceful moves of the dancers.

CID individual reflection

Day 1:

  On Sunday,24 May 2015, me and my classmates assembled at Changi Airport all ready to head to Hang Zhou,China. All of us were feeling overwhelmed with excitement,afterall it was our very first time going for such a long trip together as one class. On the first day on the OELP trip, there were fewer activites that were planned for us as most of our time were taken up by our flight to Hang Zhou but nevertheless I had a fruitful day. 

  A 5 hour plane ride seemed very long to me but what was most surprising to me was that time flew by very quickly with the company of my friends with me on the plane. We busied ourselves by taking short naps,playing card games and the simplest things such as chatting. The 5 hours was spent very meaningfully to me because it was a golden opportunity for me to spend more time with my classmates and to become closer with them. I have learnt alot of new things about my classmates and I believe I would have never found out about certain things if I was not seating near them on the flight.

  Upon arriving at Hang Zhou,China,we have our dinner, visited the Song Dynasty City and enjoyed a spectacular Song Dynasty performance. From the night visit to the Song Dynasty City and the performance that we watched, I could infer that the people that lived in those days lead a prosperous lifestyle, indulging into recreational activities such as dancing. The performance showed me that dancing was in fact a major part and was very much integrated into their lives back then. I believed that they was able to integrate dance into their lifestyles was because of the fact that in those days, people lead peaceful and safe lives and did not live in poverty.

  I have also learnt that the Song Dynasty City was incorprating culture,heritage into tourism. It is indeed very clever to have a fusion of culture and entrepreneurship in a business. It reminds the people of their roots and a visit to the Song Dynasty City would allow oneself to understand and remember more about the Song Dynasty. Not only it provides entertainment for us tourists with all the stunning performances and mini “games”, it educates people. This is something that I feel that we as Singaporeans should learn from,killing two birds with one stone.

  However, we certainly would not be able to truly experience the actual lives of the people who lived in the Song Dynasty. The visit only showed us a more superficial side to people's lives but not in depth to how they operate in their daily lives. Also, there were alot of technology that were involved and definitely, the technology that were implemented did not exist back then. There are limitations to what the Song Dynasty City theme park can educate us about.

Song Dynasty City 

Day 2:

  On Day 2 of this trip,one of the places that left a deep impression on me was the visit to Wahaha company. Firstly, the name of the company “Wahaha” was an interesting and unique that caught my attention and I was curious about how Wahaha operates as a company and the reasons behind their success and achievements. Wahaha produces a large variety of products,specifically drinks in particular. The drinks that are sold out in the market are such as vitamin drinks,fruit drinks,nutritional drinks and Future Cola. I understood from the tourguide at Wahaha that nutritional drinks for children was first introduced to China as the founder of Wahaha realised that there were no such products for children out in the market and took the opportunity to start marketing the nutritional products. This was one of the key reasons to why Wahaha is so successful today, being China's leading domestic beverage producer. Another reason to the success of Wahaha was due to the fact that the founder was bold and used marketing strategies such as advertisements on television which was something fresh and new back then. The founder of the company made sure that they were unique and certainly they stood out from the rest. He made very courageous decisions to do something different in both the products that were produced and the marketing strategy that was implemented. There was definitely a good chance that his business would fail, but the he dared to give it a try and succeeded eventually. Of course, Wahaha's success did not come by easily, it was through hardwork and perseverance, also there was a period of time where Wahaha was heavily in debt and was struggling to pay off the loans.

  Another of my key takeaways from the visit to Wahaha was they made used to nationalism to ensure the success of their adaption of Cola, which was Future Cola. The tourguide shared with us that Wahaha started to produce their very own version of Cola was because the Chinese felt that is the Americans could have their own Cola, they could have it too. This made the Chinese willing to purchase Future Cola.

At Wahaha 

Day 3:

  On Day 3 , we visited quite a number of places such as Tunxi Street,Tunxi Ink Factory,Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum,Hongcun Ancient Villages and Xidi Ancient Villages  and the takeaways that I had after visiting those places all revolve around one main theme which is preserving culture and heritage. We had a “mission” to complete when we were at Tunxi Street, it was to take a photo of a traditional handicraft/snack/dimishing trade. I took a picture of a malt candy that was in a shape of the ever popular cartoon,minions. I felt that it was considered as one of the dimishing trades on the street as all of the malt candy were made and designed on the spot. It was difficult to find these malt candy sold nowadays as the younger generation are often unwilling to take up this business, finding it troublesome and impatient to learn the art of malt candy making. They see no future in it and refuse to learn more about it. Also, the malt candy that were sold on Tunxi Street were often designed as popular cartoon characters. This showed that the stall owners had to modify their products in order to keeping the trade alive and to attract more customers. In a way, the trade is still mostly preserved but not entirely traditional anymore,catering to the needs of tourists like us. The modernising of the products was needed so as to keep up with time and trends resulting the transformations needed to be made to those trades.

  Another very important thing that was brought up by our teachers was that should the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew's house be demolished as per his wishes or preserved as a heritage site? This was preferenced to one of the places that we visited which was Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum. The museum was orginally Change Dawei's house but after his passing, it was made into a museum,allowing tourists like ourselves to visit the place and understand more about the heritage and history behind this man and the concept of abacus. This let my and friends and I thinking if the government and us Singaporeans should respect Mr Lee Kuan Yew's wishes or should we preserved his house to let our future generations to learn and appreciate what Mr Lee Kuan Yew has done for us. I believe that this is a very difficult decision to make because I'm torn apart with either to respect Mr Lee Kuan Yew's wishes or to keep something that is so precious to Singapore because afterall it is the house of our very first Prime Minister who spent his whole life building Singapore to a first world country with his team. Also, it touched my heart to know that even until the very end, Mr Lee Kuan Yew still puts Singapore as his priority,hoping that when the time comes,his house would be demolished for further projects that will happen.

Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum

In the actual museum

Some of our classmates trying out Chinese calligraphy at Tunxi Ink factory 

Gorgeous scenery!!

Day 4:

  Day 4 was one of the days that I was looking forward the most to because we will be trekking on Huang Shan. I have heard about the gorgeous view on Huang Shan and was very curious. Unfortunately, on the actual day, it rained right before we were about to trek on Huang Shan.

  Of course, besides just plain trekking on Huang Shan, we had things to do that were assigned by our teachers. At Huang Shan, we saw and heard quite a number of things such as grotesque rocks,the people who works at the restaurants, hotel or shops,voices of people,the material that was used to build the flights of stairs. For example,the grotesque rocks that i saw are  mostly rather bulky in terms of the size but vary in shapes. Some of the rocks were protruding out of the surface,having sharp edges and also the surfaces of the rocks were often uneven and rough. According to our tourguide,the rocks are formed without any interruption from us humans and they contain many minerals.

  One thing that is most memorable when we were trekking on Huang Shan was the people we saw. The people we saw were mainly tourists,the workers and also a large number of the elderly. The elderly that we saw taught me quite a number of things. Some of us felt that they were people who were not only strong physically but emotionally. As I mentioned earlier, it rained on that day and thus the pavement were rather wet and slippery,they were strong enough emotionally to continue trekking even though it was difficult to walk on the uneven steps. Even us students faced alot of difficulty trekking at the steep stairs. It must have took alot of mental strength as the weather was not optimal with occasional cold gusts of wind.

Day 5:

  Day 5 was full of not only excitement but also nervousness. We were performing in front of a large crowd in our buddy school,Shou Chun Secondary School. We had been rehearsing very hard for the past two nights and we will be performances a few dances,specifically being Malay Dance, Indian Dance and Eurasian Dance and two songs that we feel truly represent us and Singapore. Our performances was not a smooth-sailing one. When the emcee called us our school, all of us were all mentally unprepared as we were informed that our performances were scheduled as the last segment of the competition that Shou Chun Secondary School were organising. In the end, we have no actual idea when were we going up on stage and with the addition of the unfamilarity with the area, our performances were clearly not up to standard.

  However, I personally feel that as a class, we have already done very well. I do not as much if our performances was not up to standard or how the audience view us because I know that we rehearsed and performed keeping in mind that we are representing Singapore, River Valley High School and 2F. I cannot guarantee that all of us were thinking of the same thing but I am sure that most of us were. Comparing our performances with the perfomances of the students there, we still had many things to learn from them, but i am proud of 2F because we tried our best and actually that was enough for me. 

  Also, we sang Aung Lang Syne with our Chinese friends. When we were on stage, there were a clear difference with the Singapore students and the China students. We put our arms around one another,swaying side to side while the China students stood still in neat rows. I think the the most touching moment during the performance was when we put our arms around our China friend.To me, it was a start to something,the start to a new friendship, the start to the memories that we will create together. I can't help but smile when the audience applauded and cheered louder than ever when we put our arms around our China friends.

  Indeed, it is an unforgettable experience for me.

Class photo at Shou Chun!! :-)

Day 6:

  We visited Shou Chun Secondary School again but this time we stayed there for almost an entire day and we also went to the supermarket in Hefei to do some market research.

The second visit to Shou Chun Secondary School also gave many insights and I have  learnt a lot. There were quite a number of differences between Singapore and China education. The more significant ones are for example, lessons are all conducted in Chinese except for English lessons,the toilet had no doors and we had a hard time trying to adapt as we were rather uncomfortable in using the toilets. Also, they used black boards,chalk and wooden chairs and table instead of the whiteboard,markers and plastic tables and chairs.

  During my visit to our buddy visit school, I realized that they were all very warm and friendly people. An example would be, during the Chinese lesson that was conducted, we were learning a poem but however , we could not understand what the poem meant and had a hard time trying to catch up with the class. Fortunately, the teacher allowed the students to take some time to teach us and explain the poem to us. The students were all very helpful and guided us throughout the whole lesson. In fact, they were also very patient with us because I believe that the poem was peanuts to them but yet they are very willing to help us and understood that we are not exposed to Chinese literature unlike them.

I also learnt to be acceptive of culture differences, as I mentioned earlier, the toilets in their school do not have doors and they do not hire any cleaners to maintain the cleanliness in their toilets. Initially, it was difficult for us to adapt and we have to get a friend to stand in front of the cubicle as our human "door". However, we realized that there are advantages to a doorless toilet, it would ensure that the students will spent minimal time in the toilet and maximize their learning time in school. 

I had a great time in Shou Chun Secondary School and the friends that I have met there are certainly one of the highlights.

Day 7:

  

  On the seventh day, we spent half a day with our buddies but this time, we did not spend it in their school, we actually to their houses and also had a blast at their neighborhood. The house visit was in fact one of my favourite activities that was planned for us. We went for a nice walk at the park that was near their school and according to Ye Xin who is Joey's buddy,it is one of the biggest park in their area. Also, the park had some rides that were similar to the rides that we see at the pasar malam in Singapore when we were little. We decided to play on those rides and had a great time. It made me wanting to go to Universal Studios Singapore again! We also went to some museums and had a short walk on the streets.

  After spending some time outside, Ye Xin brought us back to her house for lunch. Upon reaching her house, the three of us were all in awe because of how magnificent the house looks. It was certainly better than what we live in and what we have expected. Our whole house is probably the size of the living room and the backyard combined. Her mother were preparing lunch for us and soon lunch was served. 

  Before I visited our buddy's house, I was nervous because I did not know what to expect. Will the buddy and her parents be friendly or otherwise? Will I be able to communicate well with them or will they not understand what I was trying to say because my Chinese is not good enough? Those were my main concerns. However, after this experience, I learnt that Ye Xin and her parents were very accommodating and friendly. I felt as if I was at home and I knew them for a very long time when we visited them, even though we have only met for a few hours. From Ye Xin, I found out that even though there are many differences in my school life and hers, there were still quite a number of similarities. For example, the students in China are often sent to tuition just like how we are and their weekends are all packed because of it. In Singapore, we have a Napfa test every two years and they have something similar too just that their requirements are very different from ours. To my surprise, I was told that some of the students in her class gets exhausted after running two rounds around the track.

From this experience, I learnt that I have a misconception about China students and in actual fact they are very warm and welcoming of us. I still have a lot to learn from them especially their learning attitudes in school.