Valerie's OELP reflections

Day 1

Today is the first day of our Overseas Emersion Learning Program. I arrived at the airport with my parents in anticipation to be able to be overseas without any parental supervision. My parents were hesitant and worried about me, their wary emotions plastered clearly on their faces. Yes, I was indeed also worried about being away from my parents for six nights. But I was more excited and that masked my fears. We took a class photo before we left Changi Airport, well, not just one. All our parents had crowded in front of us, pulling out their cameras and phones, snapping photos away in a hurried manner. Haha…we were in our poses for about ten minutes and I guess others in the airport must be judging us pretty badly. Then we were on the plane for a six hour flight down to Shang Hai’s airport. We arrived at Shang Hai, China, about midafternoon. We boarded our bus and got to know our enthusiastic tour guide better on the way to the Bund. The Bund is a place built for tourism around the Huang Pu Jiang river. On one side of the river are the tall skyscrapers we would all expect to see in such a modernized city like Shang Hai. But on the other side of the river was a whole street of old buildings. At first, I was bewildered, why were there olden buildings in the center of Shang Hai’s town area? Later did the tour guide explain to us that the olden buildings were built during the French Concession in Shang Hai, which is now used for businesses. I found this quite interesting as Shang Hai had managed to make use of the olden buildings, turning them into offices instead of tearing it down. We then went for dinner at a restaurant. I enjoyed the food there as we were having the Shang Hai cuisine for the first time. I found it very entertaining as we tried to guess the ingredients in the dishes and daring one another to try it. Afterwards, we went back to the Bund. Only this time, we were going to be taking a boat ride in the Huang Pu Jiang. The boat was no ordinary boat or bumboats like those we see at our Singapore River. It was a magnificently lighted up three-level boat. The top most level had no roof for visitors to be able to gain the best views. There were also multiple seats in both the first and second levels. Yes, I find this idea of having many seats in the boat well for the elderly to be able to admire their surroundings without having to go to the top most level.  However, the windows were mostly closed, having very little ventilation. Thus the two lower floors were very humid. The top most floor of the boat was very windy and comfortable. I enjoyed the wind blowing against my face as I watched the colourful lights light up on the buildings as we went along the river. My classmates even did some school cheers there, such as the banana cheer and the “my side my side” cheer. It was quite entertaining to watch them, there were even other tourists watching them do the cheers. By the time we returned to the hotel, it was quite late and we were all exhausted from the day’s events. Yet, I didn’t find the hotel comfortable. It was quite scary with the lights all dimly lit, mirrors all around the corridors and one another’s rooms being so scattered around. I didn’t really enjoy that night in the particular hotel.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>&nbsp;

Day 2

Today, we had our breakfast in the hotel. I find the food too oily and heavy for my taste. Perhaps it’s the Shang Hai people’s diet to have such a heavy breakfast. Afterwards, we left the hotel with our luggages and I breathed a sigh of relief to be able to leave the scary hotel. We then went to the French Concession. The French Concession is a place in Shang Hai with Victorian styled buildings. The buildings were old and had signs of wearing. However I realized with a start, when we were allowed to explore the place, that it had modern shops such as Starbucks. I think that we can learn from Shang Hai how we can preserve both the historical buildings while introducing new and modern ideas to the buildings. The fact that there was a Starbucks in a more quiet part of the city made me wonder why Starbucks had decided to open a shop there. It is probably because that place is only a tourist site, thus with a Starbucks opened there, they would be able to earn more money from tourists whom recognizes Starbucks as an internationally popular shop. From the French Concession, we made our way to Tian Zi Fang. Tian Zi Fang is a popular shopping district in Shang Hai, which is why I was shocked to see that it was a combination of old alleys with bare wires hanging across the shoppers’ heads. Despite the olden outlook of the place, there were modern shops selling tea and even Eurasian Cafes. But mostly, the place sold handmade products at prices ranging from sky high to a very cheap price. I even bought a keychain with my surname carved on it for just a Singapore dollar! We then visited Hai Di Lao for lunch. Hai Di Lao is one of the highlights of my OELP trip. We were treated like kings and queens. The service at Hai Di Lao was just tremendous and I would encourage my family and friends go for the experience too. Even though we were only considered kids, we were treated with an immense amount of respect. In fact, they were just so courteous and respectful towards us that I was staring to feeling awkward. When our cups were only half filled and we had to ask for a refill, they apologized repeatedly for not noticing earlier and would instantly fill them up. Their attitude towards their customers was truly remarkable. I find that people in Singapore’s service line should also learn from them. In Singapore, there are waiters and waitresses who are impatient in serving their customers, thus their attitudes towards their customers would also be unpleasant. We then went on a 4 hour bus journey to Yangzhou. Most of us slept for two hours of the bus ride while we had some music and games as a class with the remaining 2 hours of the trip.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;

Day 3

Today, we went to the 冶春荼社 for our breakfast. Along the way to the teahouse, we past by a canal side whereby there were elderly with pets. Some were selling the animals while others were simply giving a performance. This reminded me back home in Singapore when the elderly would gather at the first level of the block every morning just to talk about life. In the 冶春荼社, we were served with more than six dishes per table. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In Singapore, most of the time, we had bread or just milo for breakfast. Yet the Yangzhou residents actually had such a heavy beakfast. There were noodles, three different kinds of buns and many more dishes. Being light eaters, all of us only managed to consume about one quarter of the food given. I find the rest of the food quite a waste as it would most probably be thrown away after we left. It was quite a delicious meal and I wouldn’t mind going back again. I particularly enjoyed the bao which we had to use a straw to suck our all the soup before we could eat the bao. The soup was still piping hot and it was delicious with the distinct taste of meat in it. The skin of the bao wasn’t very thick either and I wondered how they had managed to cook the bao with so much liquid inside without breaking the skin a slightest bit. We went to the Slender west lake after the meal. The place was very very peaceful and despite the mass amount of people there, I could feel the serenity of its surroundings. At first, I felt that it was similar with Singapore’s Botanical Gardens, only did I realize that it was much much bigger, with a history much older that Singapore’s. We took a boat ride in two separate bumboats operated by women in the Slender West Lake. The boat ride was very enjoyable on the calm and soothing waters. When we reached the other bank of the Slender West Lake, we were given time to explore the beautiful historical place. I remember that there was a small shelter called the diao yu tai which was said to be Emperor Qian Long’s favourite fishing retreat. Our tour guide even told us about how the eunuchs in the past had to hide below water lilies in the water. When the emperor went fishing, they would attach dragon fishes to his hook secretly such that the emperor would feel good about being able to catch something. The place had a very old history to it and I feel honored to have been able to visit the Slender West Lake. Finally, we went to the block printing museum. We were all expecting the block printing museum to be a boring old museum to visit. But we were proven wrong. Block printing is not as easy as we thought. Firstly, one had to use a brush to write out the words. With one mistake, one had to rewrite the entire thing on a manuscript again. Secondly, they had to carve the words on a block of wood. This requires concentration and skill. With one wrong move, they would have to carve it once more. There was no rewind button. Moreover, unlike our computers and printers, if they had wanted to edit the text, it would have to carve it once more. It is not an easy process and I admire their patience for such work.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;

 

Day 4

Today was day one of our exchange program with one of the local schools in Yangzhou. I was nervous for I did not know what kind of a person my buddy would be and if I would be awkward. When we were split up to join our buddies at our respective seats, I was really awkward. I didn’t know what to do and how to recognize my buddy. Fortunately, the students there came forward to us, asking for our names and directing us to our buddies. When I spoke to my buddy, I realize that their standards of Chinese are just very different from us. Half the time as she was speaking, I could barely understand what she was talking about and had to ask her to simplify her words. It was quite embarrassing though but enriching as I learnt many different things about their school. I couldn’t find suitable topics to bring up with her so we spoke mainly about school life and the differences. I got to understand about their school’s emphasize on mathematics. However, I learnt that their CCA activities were also academically related. My buddy’s CCA was math enrichment. I feel that China educational system can make CCA compulsory for all and also make CCA longer, with more physical activities. CCA enables us to be able to know more people, while at the same, it allows us to learn skills and qualities outside lessons. We also attended their music lesson. I find their music lesson tougher than Singapore’s as they are asked to identify the Chinese music instruments involved and also asked to sing the tunes of the music. Being unused to such music lessons, I find it enjoyable and enriching after going for their music lesson. I liked the way their teacher had been able to engage everyone’s attention throughout the lesson. I was stunned that time had passed so fast when the lesson ended. We went to the Lushi Old Mansion for dinner. The place was enormous and once again, I was amazed with how China had managed to merge both the old and new together. The building was an old heritage site, the home of a salt merchant in the past, yet it was changed to a restaurant for the tourism industry. Moreover, each table in the Lushi Old Mansion had its own room. The mansion was very spacious and grand. The food served was also very traditional. Although the food was not to our tastes, I still enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant as a whole. We also went for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal boat ride. Throughout the boat ride, there were the elderly doing exercises along one side of the river and youngsters dancing along the rivers on the other side. Although it was night time, there was still a lot of activities occurring on both sides of the banks.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;

Day 5

Today was the last and final day for the exchange program with the school in Yangzhou. I was hesitant and sad to leave my buddy. After knowing her for a day, I had hoped for more time to know her better. But it was time to say goodbye. We had a performance planned for the Yangzhou students. When the performance began, I was actually very worried. My hands were icy cold and I could remember Miss Zheng trying to get me to relax. Haha…the students there had performed traditional music and what were we going to perform? Pop music with a little singing towards the end. When we reached the mid of our performance, I could see the students there starting to lose interest in our performance and so I was kind of disappointed and upset. But when I saw my classmates having fun and enjoying their time as a class together, my mood rose again and I started to relax a little. Even as we were leaving, I did not manage to see my buddy for the last time for she had something on afterwards. I was disappointed but I hoped that she had enjoyed the little gift I had given to her earlier on when I saw her. Then, we made our way to the paper cutting museum. Along the way, I saw something which made me feel very disgusted. There was a little boy about the age of three and his parents were teaching him how to urinate along the streets. I felt ashamed and disgusted. How could they have taught their son to do such a thing? Moreover, they were just near the toilets. Being a tourist, it gave me a very bad impression of the people in Yang Zhou. We did some simple paper cutting in the paper cutting museum with our scissors and paper provided. However, the paper dog that I tried to cut turned up quite awful. It did not even have its tail attached after I was done with it. However, I enjoyed and appreciated the experience given to us. After the visit to the paper cutting museum, we went to the zhu zi qing residence. It was located in quite an old alley. I find the residence rather small and old. It made me feel claustrophobic as I passed through pathway to pathway. The residence was quite well preserved though. Despite its age, it was still maintained as a historical site. This shows Yangzhou’s efforts to preserving its history for its future generations.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;

 

Day 6

Today was the second last day of our OELP and we visited the Ge yuan first thing in the morning. From there, I found out the names of the different kinds of bamboo, introduced by the tour guide. Deeper into the historical site, there were four seasonal pavilions built just to admire the scenery at its best in the different seasons, mainly, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We then took a bus ride to our next location, which was the da ming temple. The Da Ming temple is a temple whereby parents pray for their child’s zhong kao, which is equivalent to Singapore’s A-levels. Upon our visit to the temple, we walked into this part of the temple, whereby there were statues of different disciples of Buddha. The tour guide briefly explained several disciples to us and the story behind them. We were then given time to explore the da ming temple. At first, my friends and I wanted to climb the pagoda, but when we heard of the price we had to pay to climb the pagoda, we decided against it. Instead, we walked around the temple and took pictures. Then we went to the gift shop which sold amulets for students. Lastly, we went to the Shang Hai Volkswagon factory. We were at first wary. Why were we brought to a car factory? Then upon being shown the video in the conference room, I realized that it was related to Shang Hai’s economy. We were also given a tour of the car making process within the factory itself. It was quite cool to watch the cars being manufactured from scratch as it is our first time being able to enter a car factory like that. However, some of the sparks had come pretty close to coming into contact with us, which may cause us to be hurt. But I still enjoyed watching the cars get manufactured. We could also see the comparison between Singapore and ShangHai. Whereby in Singapore, we look out for cars like Hondas and BMWs, In ShangHai, they look out for Volkswagon.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;

 

Day 7

Today would be the last and final day of our OELP. I was filled with disappointment for not being able to have a longer time together with my classmates. But I was ready to go back home. As we were at the bullet train station, ready to return to Shang Hai’s airport, my friend bought an extra large drink from the train station before we boarded the train. We were told that food was allowed on the train and I was shocked when I got onto the train. The place was sparkling clean and there wasn’t a single litter on the ground. How is it possible that even though food was allowed on the train, but the environment was super clean? Even when food was banned in Singapore’s trains, but still we see litter all around the MRT. I guess it’s the people’s attitudes. In China, the people actually make the conscious effort to keep their environment clean and that is what we should be learning from them. The seats of the bullet train were all facing towards the front but our tour guide taught us how to turn the seats such that we would be able to face our classmates. After alighting from the train, we were ushered quickly to the airport where we boarded the 6 hour long flight back to Singapore. Through this OELP, I have grown a lot. I’ve become more independent and responsible. I’ve learnt so much which I can never learn from through textbooks. I’ve also seen how much the class had grown, how close we had all become throughout these six nights of being only dependent on one another. I’m proud to say that this OELP has been a very fulfilling one for me.

 

 

OELP To Shanghai-Yangzhou Ming How’s Daily Reflection

OELP To Shanghai-Yangzhou Ming How’s Daily Reflection

Day 1
The day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. After gathering and taking our attendance at the Changi Airport, it was time to say our goodbyes to our parents. Some of us even cried since we could not bear to leave our parents. I was really excited since it would be my first time going to another country for so long without my parents. I had tried to imagine what it would be like in China once we reached there. After listening to Ms Zeng about her expectations of us during the OELP trip, we boarded the Singapore Airlines plane for our 6 hours long of flight. To be honest, the food served to us was not very nice…
After we arrived in Shanghai airport, we loaded our luggage onto the bus and the tour guide gave us a brief introduction about himself. The way China looked like was very much different from what I had expected and my first impression of Shanghai was pretty good. The first site we visited was the bund. At the bund, I was very surprised to see many European style buildings along the bund. The tour guide then explained to us that due to foreign aggression in the past, many of the buildings were forced to set up and be designed in the European style. At the bund, I could see many people taking their wedding photos and this is probably an evidence to show that the bund is a really beautiful place. One thing that I remembered most vividly about that place was the monument which was set up to remember the three wars that the Chinese people had fought- Opium war, World War 2 and Chinese Civil war. From this monument, we can tell that Chinese had to go through a lot to develop Shanghai and allow it to become the city it is now. Also not to forget, we had to complete several missions during the OELP trip and one of the requirements was a group selfie by the sunset so we completed that mission at the bund.
After visiting the bund, we went to a restaurant to have our dinner. It was our first meal in China and to be honest, it wasn’t a really enjoyable one. We did not know what most of the dishes were and my table which was filled with boys only eyed for the meat so everyone ended up snatching for the meat and leaving out the food that we could not recognize. We also finished our soft drink very quickly and wanted to order another bottle but that’s when I realized there was still a language barrier between us and the Chinese there even though we spoke in Chinese which was quite surprising to me. My impression of the food in China was not very good and I knew that I would have to eat cup noodles every night as supper to keep me full… To make things worse, one of our classmates was even not feeling well after the meal…
After our not-so-nice meal, we went to Huang Pu Jiang for a boat ride. The wind was really quite strong when we stood at the top level of the boat but it was really quite enjoyable as the wind was very chilling. I could see that the buildings had a lot of lightings on them and there was even laser light on some of the buildings and Ms Huang questioned asked if we knew why the government was willing to spend so much money on decorating the buildings of Shanghai. Most of us did not know the reason why and so she explained to us that turning Huang Pu Jiang into a tourist attraction would attract more tourist to come to Shanghai,China thus making more people to spend money in their country. By collecting taxes from what the tourists had spent, the economy of China would be improved since the government would earn more money and so it is therefore worth to invest so much money on turning Huang Pu Jiang into a tourist attraction. 


Day 2
Today, the first site we went to was the French concession. On the way to the site, we actually saw many branded car which was guarded by many security guards. It was quite rare to see in Singapore so I found it quite interesting. My deepest impression about the French concession was the European-style buildings there since it even had Chinese carvings on it too. The whole French concession place gave us the feeling of being in Europe even though we saw a 福禄寿 statue there. This shows how the China government has actually managed to strike a balance between the Western and the Eastern culture in a tourist attraction site.  After looking around the French concession, we saw a Starbucks outlet. Even though many of my classmates disagree with my point of view, I think that it is actually appropriate to have something from the modern generation in this cultural heritage site. Preserving the exterior look of the buildings allow the people to appreciate the past and history of this place while changing the interior of this place so that it earns money for the country is logical and reasonable. In the point of view of the government, it is already a loss of money and time for them since the land occupied by this cultural site could have been used for other development purposes. These cultural sites have already been in a way detrimental to the country and so I feel that it is perfectly reasonable for the government to at least make sure that these culture sites earn that bit of money so as to decrease their loss from these cultural sites. Even though it would seem to destroy the true meaning of this place, I feel that maintaining a portion of this place is enough to ensure that the country not only develop economically but also remember its roots at the same time.

Afterwards, we went to Hai Di Lao. From what I heard, the teachers had spent a lot of effort in convincing the teacher-in-charge for this OELP trip to allow us to go to this restaurant and thus I was quite excited to go to this restaurant and was very curious to find out what is so good about this restaurant. When I reached there and had our lunch there, we definitely had a pleasant surprise since after enjoying the splendid service of the staffs of Hai Di Lao. Firstly, before we had even alighted, two staffs were already outside of the restaurant waiting upon our arrival. They were all very polite and caring and some actions that gave me a deep impression was the fact that some staffs even remind us to mind the steps, something which most restaurant staffs would not do. After the staffs guided us to our seat, we were given spectacle wipes in case our glass got misty and aprons lest our clothes got dirty.  Throughout our whole meal, there would always be one staff member looking after us by explaining the food they served or apologizing for not quickly refilling our drinks or being too loud when placing our plates. Ms Huang had explained to us that each of the staffs were given a part of the company shares and so this will make them respect their job a lot and thus giving their best when doing their jobs. Their restaurant’s motto, 以人为本的, is also probably the reason why they are so successful today and the reason for the impeccable service. Singapore should definitely learn from them and adopt a good service attitude too so as to attract more customers to their restaurant.


Day 3
On our third day in China, we were already in Yangzhou. Our first site in the morning was 冶春荼社 where we would be having our breakfast. On the way to the restaurant, we could see many elderly enjoying themselves by just looking at some animals like bird or talking to one another. This shows the slow-paced lifestyle of the people in Yangzhou since they could spend a lot of time on their own personal enjoyment. Many Singaporeans just are rushing us to work or study most of the time thus I think it will definitely be great if we actually learn to take breaks and not be so rushed all the time. At the restaurant, we were served with a large variety of food such as buns, cakes, soup and even meat. This breakfast is considered a very heavy one in the Singapore context since most of us just have slices of bread or a cup of milk or may even not have breakfast at all in Singapore. This further emphasize my point about Yangzhou people leading a slow-paced life since they have the time and luxury to leisurely enjoy their breakfast while most of us are just so rushed to go to work that we even skip our meals. One of the food that I enjoyed the most there was the big bun which had piping hot soup in it. We had to use a straw to suck all the soup out before enjoying the filling. It was quite appealing to my taste so I generally enjoyed that meal.
The next site we visited was the Slender West Lake. Personally, I found the scenery of the lake really very beautiful and one thing I realized about this place was that the boat rowers were mainly woman. The tour guide then explained to us that the woman who rowed the boats would seem more elegant and pleasant to the eye. Through this visit to the Slender West Lake, I have got to know more about the history about how the emperor fished in the past and about the famous five-pavilion bridge. One interesting thing that happened was that Ms Huang actually saw her friend at this place when we alighted from the boat.
After the visit to the Slender West Lake, we went to a Block Printing Museum where we got to see the different stages that block printing had to go through and how has carving of words on bones have developed to our current form of using a printer to just copy and print on another paper. I had realized that our ancestors really had to go through a lot and experiment a lot just for the development of block printing and block printing really isn’t an easy task since a lot of stages had to be gone through and each stage requires meticulous and extreme care when handling. If any error was made, they would have to start from scratch again. At the museum, there was even a live demonstration of each of the different stages from the first stage of writing on paper to the last stage using the carved block to print. My group members have question about why the people demonstrating block printing are willing to stay in the museum and most of them said it was because of their passion and determination to allow their future generation to understand about this culture better. I sincerely respect these people from the bottom of my heart since they are willing to sacrifice their own time to spread and pass on this culture even though they could be taking up other jobs with higher pay. We should definitely appreciate their presence since for without them, the culture of block printing could possibly forever be vanished since there won’t be anyone to spread this culture anymore.


Day 4
We visited a local school, 扬大附中东部初中学院, for an immersion exchange program. We were warmly welcomed by the principal of that school and there were many students staring at us upon our arrival, as if we were celebrities. Much to my surprise, the school was a lot bigger than what I had expected and the school accommodated so many students. Generally, I found the facilities of the school and the learning environment of the school quite conducive. When we entered a classroom to meet our buddies, I felt that it was really very awkward since the China students were the only ones who kept the conversation going while we were not used to talking a lot so we either nodded our head or kept our sentences short most of the time. We had no common topic to talk about at all which further added on to the awkwardness. We attended several lessons with the students there and we realized the way lessons were conducted in their school was worlds apart as compared to that in our school in many ways like the way the teacher teachers and the way the students behaved during lessons. To be honest, I was really impressed by how the students gave their full attention to the teacher and kept their backs straight throughout the lesson. Meals provided to the students were also very different as compared to our school since the food provided would be standardized throughout the whole level in China while in Singapore the students are provided with a variety of choices of food. The way food is given to the students in both countries are very different but each have their own pros and cons. Students are able to get their food faster in China while students in Singapore have a larger range of food to choose from to their liking. Another big difference I realized is also the time the students spend in school. The students in China end their school in the evening but they get an 2 hr of sleeping time in the afternoon while the students in Singapore ends their school in the afternoon without any sleeping time given. To be honest, I would actually prefer the school system in China since given a chance to sleep before some lessons actually provides with more energy to pay more attention to the lessons.


Day 5
It was the second and also the last day we would spend at this Yangzhou school and I was actually quite sad to leave this school so quickly. I did not manage to see my buddy on the second day since she had something to do which was quite disappointing since the time I had with my buddy was limited and reduced even more. One activity that left me the deepest impression was the performance our class had to put up. After looking at the performance put up by the students in Yangzhou, we were actually quite ashamed of our own performance since their’s clearly expressed some of the cultures they had in Yangzhou while our class performance was just something we came up with by random and did not depict the culture we had in Singapore. However, I feel that what’s that matter now is how our class have bonded through preparing for this performance and how we had put in so much effort together to learn the dance moves together and in the process bond together as a class. Before we left the school, we all gave our buddies something and my buddy who had managed to rush back and meet me in time had managed to give me a simple note too. I was really touched by what she wrote in the note because she said that it was what she truly wanted to say to me. She has even included some Mathematics questions since I have told her before that I liked the subject Mathematics and this made me quite glad since she remember what I said to her. I am very glad to have made friends with someone from Yangzhou and I will make sure to contact her in the future too.
Afterwards, we went to a paper cutting museum. We first walked around to look at some paper cutting done by experts and one interesting thing we saw at the museum was the statue of a very famous paper cutting expert. We then got to have a hands-on activity where we got to cut out an animal which we liked. Through this hands-on activity, we had realized how hard it was to cut the thin paper carefully without tearing it. I am not really in a favour of this activity but it has definitely allowed me to understand and have more interaction with this culture. 


Day 6
The first site we visited in the morning was the Geyuan Garden. In general, I found the environment there very tranquil and serene. It was a place of with lots of meaning and history like the grave of a crane or the writing by a famous person and one of the things that I learnt and remembered about that place was about its bamboos. From what I have heard and learnt from the tour guide, people in the past viewed bamboo very importantly and is even willing to not have any food just to buy bamboos in their own home. The bamboos also signified respect and filialness to the elders  since the younger bamboos would grow outside of the older ones so as to protect their ‘elders’ from the strong winds and collapsing. Personally, I find this very meaningful and feel that we as humans should also be like the bamboos and be willing to sacrifice for our elders too and hold up the 尊老敬贤 spirit. In conclusion, I found the visit to the Geyuan garden quite enjoyable.
In the afternoon, we visited the Daming temple. Even though I did not like the smell of smoke from all the joss stick very much, I was very impressed by how large the temple was since it was very rare to find a temple that is so big in Singapore. One thing that left me the deepest impression was also a room with many very large statues of the gods like Buddha and GuanYin since the whole room looked very grand  and I wondered how the statues were even placed in the room. The tour guide also explained to us the story of GuanYin and the origin of the dragon he rode on which I found very meaningful and interesting. I also liked the souvenirs bought there since I have bought an interesting charm which was supposedly used to boost me in my studies.
Afterwards, we visited the Shanghai Volkswagen company. I was very excited to come to this place since it would probably be my once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the way Volkswagen produces cars with my own eyes. When I first entered the place, I could see a display of Volkswagen cars at the side of the hall and a glass display in the centre. The Volkswagen staff explained to us the different parts of the whole factory before we got to sit in a car that drove us around the factory to let us see that different stages and processes of building each car. One thing that I can still remember about that place was the banners placed around the factory and each banner had a motto to encourage the staffs and workers to have a good working and service attitude. I found this quite meaningful as it serves as a form of motivation for the staffs and workers and this is probably why the staffs and workers of the Volkswagen are willing to put in their best effort to ensure the best quality of their products that in turn lead to the success of the Volkswagen office today.


Day 7
It was our last day in China. Throughout this whole trip, I have seen a lot, understand a lot and learn a lot. There wasn’t a moment when I disliked coming on this OELP trip at all and if given a chance again I would definitely choose to go on an OELP trip again. After checking out of our hotel, we went to the Bullet Train Station with heavy feelings.  After going to the train platform, we waited for our train to come. Once we boarded the train, I quickly settled down. Our tour guide even demonstrated how to turn our seats around so that we can face each other throughout the train ride. In general, I was very impressed by China’s train service since I expected that it would be like our MRT in Singapore. However, I was quite shocked to find out how comfortable and well rounded the service provide by the China Bullet Train was. Firstly, the seats was very spacious and comfortable unlike that of Singapore. The seats are even able to turn around 180 degrees so that we can be facing those that were behind us. Secondly, there were a lot of facilities in the bullet train, such as toilets or even stores selling refreshments and souvenirs. One thing that I found funny was that even though Singapore’s MRT prohibits food and drinks on board the train, it is ironical how China’s Bullet Trains were so much cleaner as compared Singapore’s MRT although China’s Bullet Trains allow food on board.
It was finally time to leave China as we boarded the plane. It was probably our last chance to ever see our tour guide ever again and I sincerely appreciate him very much for sharing so much of his knowledge to us and I would also like to apologise to him for dozing off sometimes while he is talking since I was really very tired.  . Throughout this whole trip, I have seen a lot, understand a lot and learn a lot. There wasn’t a moment when I disliked coming on this OELP trip at all and if given a chance again I would definitely choose to go on an OELP trip with my classmates again. Although this marks the end of our OELP trip, I believe that this is a start of our journey of gaining more knowledge of other country’s culture and adopting a global perceptive. After all, we are all now equipped the skills and knowledge we have gained through this Shanghai-Yangzhou OELP Trip.