Day 1:
Today is the start of our exciting OELP trip. All of us gathered at Changi Airport in the afternoon with excitement. I was so looking forward to this trip. It is our first time to go overseas together as a class. Soon we boarded the plane and took off for China. We were all chatting away, watching movies and those who were so excited the previous night that could not sleep took the chance to have a good rest. Upon arrival, we met our friendly tour guide, 黄导游. During the bus ride from the Shanghai Pudong Airport to the restaurant that we are having dinner, our tour guide gave us an brief introduction about China which taught us a lot. Such as, China has a population 25,000,000. During the bus ride, we also took the chance to take pictures of the places he introduced and some other places which was interesting and caught our attention. After that we went to a restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was very quiet as we were the only customers. Finally, we went to our hotel for a good rest as we have to wake up a little early the next day.
Day 2:
Today, we went to Chenghuangmiao, Shanghai Book City, Nanjing road and Bund and French Concession. We first went to Chenghuangmiao. We got to walk around the temple and explore ourselves. Then we had our first class photo together. After that we were given free time to do some shopping and try out some food like 小笼包. I bought some souvenirs for my family and friends. I realised that they allow customers to bargain a lot. For example i bought a snapback. The orignal price was 158 RMB but we managed to bargain until it was 50 RMB. After that we went to the Bund and French Concession. The scenery was so fabulous that everybody was already digging out their cameras and phones, getting ready to take pictures even before the tour guide gave us free time. From the bund, we could see a lot of renown buildings of Shanghai such as 上海东方明珠塔. Next, we went to Shanghai Book City. It was extremely big with seven storeys. There was a wide variety of books sold like recipes books and story books. Last but not least we went to Nanjing road. We were also given free time to do some shopping. There were a lot of fast food restaurants and shopping malls along the road. However the things sold there were more expensive and less affordable as compared to those in Chenghuangmiao.
Day 3:
Today, we went to Nanyang High School, lunch at Haidilao, Wenmiaojie and Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. The visit to Nanyang High School made us realised the differences between China's education and Singapore's education system. That day we left the hotel late and we were late for the visit to the school. We heard from the teacher afterwards that the Nanyang school teachers rushed through their busy schedule to plan the activities for us and we were rude for being late despite the hard work they had put in. We started the visit by knowing our buddies. All of us introduced ourselves. The buddies tried to know more about us and told us a little information about their school. However, they have to attend class soon, the teachers took over and the students went back for their classes. The teacher-in-charge then showed us videos to know more about the school and also about China. There was also an acitivity planned for us. We had to build the tallest building which can hold the wieght of a ping pong ball out of an A4 paper and scissors. After that we went for lunch at Haidilao which was known for their good services. However, the services wasn't as good as expected. While eating there was only a performance and nothing else, which disappoint me a little. But i was surprised with the wonderful services i received when i went to the toilet. The staff there was very friendly and chit-chat with us. He offered us towel after we washed our hands and gave us sweets before we left. I was also surprised after seeing some toothbrushed near the sink area. I feel that the service was not bad but it wasn't as good as what i heard from many others. We also went to Wenmiaojie where we saw a lot of small shops. The road was very dangerous as it was very narrow and the drivers there were pretty reckless. The trip to 文庙街 let us see the olden China, where the people live in very small houses. Lastly we went to the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall where we took a lot of pictures. The exhibits are detailed and thorough, and provide a lot of information on how the city’s planners see the future. After the long and tiring day, we went back to our hotel.
Day 4:
Today we went to the Nanyang High School, Oriental Dreamworks and Fudan University. We learnt from our lesson and we reached the school on time. We attended their class and we realised that a teacher teaches more than one subject unlike in Singapore, where one teacher teaches one subject. We also had a great conversation with these seniors which enabled us to understand their lives in China as compared to ours. I learnt that they can only have piercing in University. While people in Singapore can have it anytime. Like me i had it when I was just a baby. They also shared about their lives being the only child. We gave them the presents we prepared for them and sang our 立化情 song for them. Although we only practiced it on the bus ride from the hotel to the school, I felt that we did pretty well. After leaving the Nanyang High School, we went to the Oriental Dreamworks where we saw how cartoon characters in movies are made, such as in Kungfu Panda. Although I know it takes a lot of hard work and effort to make the movie, but I did not really knew how difficult and tough it was. Many steps were taken and combined together to make the movie wonderful. Even a small part in the background of one of the scene takes a long time to be drawn. From this experience, I think that I appreciate such cartoon movies more. Lastly we went to Fudan University. We had a tour around the school by our fellow River Valley senior. She told us how competitive studying in China was. The China students are very hardworking and go to school very early even before lesson starts, to study. From the tour, we can also see that the facilities of the school was not what was expected of a famous university. They were still using chalkboard which was long replaced by whiteboard in Singapore even in Primary School.
Day 5:
The bus ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou was 3 hours with toilet breaks in between. All of us were sleeping on the bus as we were all tired. Today, we went to Zhejiang university. The compound was very big where each course had one building. We even had to travel around the school by bus. There was even a police station in the school compound. After that, we went to Qinghefang Ancient Streets where we were given free time to shop. It was the last few chances to shop for souvenirs. During dinner our tour guide bought us a 包 which was very delicious. After having dinner we have to bid goodbye to our friendly tour guide who joked with us a lot the last few days and thanked him for everything he taught us. We were all sad and felt sorry that we did not pay attention to what he say sometimes. We were also bad audiences as we do not response when he joked with us.
Day 6:
Today we went to Yue Fei Mausoleum, West Lake, Leifeng pagoda and Qinghefang Ancient street. At Yue Fei Mausoleum we learned more about Yue Fei. We saw four statues kneeling on the floor. They were the ones who framed Yue Fei. There was a sign to warn people not to spit on them although the people hate them. From this we can see the hatred the people has on those who framed Yue Fei. After that we went to West Lake and we bought a ferry to go around and look at the beautiful scenery of West Lake. The scenery was so nice that camera clicking can be heard non-stop. After admiring the scenery, we went to the Leifeng pagoda. We climbed to the top of it and took lots of pictures. From the top, we could see the beautiful West Lake. Hence all those tiring climbing was worth it with the nice view we got to see. After that we went to Qinghefang Ancient Street where we did our shopping again. We ended the tiring day by watching 西湖之夜, a marvelous performance which is one of the best experience we had through out the trip. It was a wonderful experiences as there were a lot of scary and dangerous performances. Such as a few motorbikes riding in a sphere. It was really memorable and is deeply etched in my mind. I feel that the performers really put in a lot of effort and time into the performances.
Day 7:
Today is our last day in China. We went to Qibao ancient town. When we went there, it was really crowded and all of us had to squeeze through people to catch up with our classmates. As there were a lot of people and our tour guide and teachers were worried we may get lost, we were not able to stop by any store to buy items although the things sold there were cheap. Next, we went to the last destination of the whole trip, Tianzifang where we got to shop and look around the cafés. The place was really big and getting lost was really easy. There were a lot of interesting and cute items sold in the shops. It also has many unique artist shops. After that, we went to the airport to board the train back to Singapore. Although the trip was a little tiring as we have to wake up early, some had homesick etc, but it was definitely an unforgettable trip with a lot of memories that will be deeply etched in our minds.
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