Oelp Post-Trip Reflection
After a week of enriching and eventful activities, I think it would be safe to say that most, or even all of us have definitely learnt something useful and interesting and now know more about the history and culture of China. We visited 2 cities in China – Shanghai and Hangzhou, both which have a long history and rich culture. We visited many memorable and meaningful places like Chenghuang Miao,Qinghefang old street and Hai Di Lao.
Chenghuang Miao is a temple located in Shanghai, China, within the old walled city, and is also known as the City God Temple of Shanghai. Today, it not only refers to the large temple complex, but also the traditional district of commerce in the city, surrounding the temple. When you first enter the temple, you are greeted with the sight of many people burning hell notes in the main hall. As you walk further down, you will see many altars in the temple. When you get to the paifang adjacent to the temple, you are greeted by over a hundred stores and shops in the area, and most of these store buildings are nearly a century old. This temple has a really long history and it all started in 1403, when it originated as the Jinshan God Temple, dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan, an island off the coast of Shanghai. It was converted to a City God Temple in 1403, during the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, the temple grew popular and many residents of the old city and nearby areas visited the temple to pray for good fortune and peace. It was so popular that many businesses were set up in the area, turning the surrounding streets into a busy marketplace, which is what we can still see today. During the Cultural Revolution, it was closed and used for other purposes and the main hall was a jewellery shop but was restored to its formal use in 1994.
Other than learning from the places we visited, we also learnt many things from our friendly and knowledgeable tour guides who kindly brought us around and took care of us for one whole week. Some of the things I’ve heard the tour guide mention are the examinations in China and their way of transport. Not long ago, the first train line opened in Ningbo and Ningbo is developing very quickly and now, Hangzhou also wants to open 8 train lines. In Hangzhou, there are so many reckless drivers that it has become a habit, unlike Singapore where the traffic is very orderly and much safer and drivers and less reckless. Also, in Hangzhou, you hardly see any motorcycles around as they cause a lot more pollution to the air compared to any other vehicle, but motorcycles are often spotted on the roads in Singapore. Instead of motorcycles, people in China tend to use scooters as they are relatively cheaper. Many also rent bicycles or electric bikes to move around easily and at a really cheap rate. They also have this card called the yi tong ka which is every similar to our own “Ez-link” card so that taking public transport is a lot easier and fuss-free.
In China, we also went to visit Fudan university, which is one of the top universities in China. We met up with our seniors there and they were kind enough to give up some of their very precious time to bring us around the school. The school is huge and there are many blocks to it. Unlike our school which is somodernalised, theirs is not as modernalised and each student even has their own bicycle or scooter to get to the classes. Just imagine how big the school is! Many of their blocks are not as clean as ours, but the students hardly have any complaints as they are all about studying for their upcoming examinations and they are also very competitive in class. If only students in Singapore were like that! Some of the things we can learn from the students in China are to be more attentive in class and not be easily distracted and to have a sense of urgency and not take our own sweet time to get from destination to destination.
Overall, I feel that this has been a very meaningful trip and I have benefitted a lot from it, like learning more useful knowledge and also getting a chance to bond more with my fellow classmates. I already miss this trip so much and if there is another chance to re-experience this, I would definitely go again!
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