oelp reflection - cassandra

Over the 7 days in china, I have learnt a lot about china. From our first day in shanghai, I saw  many European architectures along the road side and I was surprised as the image of shanghai in my head was only high-rise skyscrapers like the ones in Singapore and chinese-styled buildings. We were told that it was due to the foreign aggression in the past and that foreigners then put buildings with western-styled. At the bund, we also saw a Monument to the People's Heroes to remember the three wars which china had gone through- opium war, world war 2 and the china civil war. I think china had gone through quite a lot to come these far, to become this state. At the huang pu jiang, the buildings had lights on them and are consecutively turned on. I can see that the government actually put in a lot of effort in turning huang pu jiang into a tourist attraction. Moreover, on the buildings, there were advertisements about shanghai, so that tourists would be attracted and may decide to come more often to shanghai. I think the amount of money earned through tourism is more than the amount of money spent in electricity, which is worth it to boost china’s economy to increase standard of living for the people. as compared to Yangzhou, shanghai has lesser cultural heritage and is more modernized. Due to the lack of space which shanghai has, shanghai chose economic development instead of cultural heritage. They think that it is worth to sacrifice the cultural heritage for china’s booming economic growth, since china had a big land, they can have cultural heritage conservation at other parts of china. However, this cannot be applied to Singapore. Singapore itself is too small to have cultural heritage and economic development at separate places, so Singapore must choose. At Yangzhou’s Beijing-hangzhou grand canal, there are light on the buildings throughout the whole boat ride and that there no advertising lights. This shows that the government did not put as much effort in promoting shanghai as compared to Yangzhou since shanghai is the center attraction and the main source for foreigners to come since there is an airport at shanghai so that china will have more tourist for tourism. Moreover, shanghai focuses more on economical growth and urbanization, while Yangzhou focuses more on preserving traditional buildings and other cultural heritage, so it does not have enough space for economical growth and cannot catch up with the current trend of modernization. I am afraid that Singapore in the future would become like Yangzhou. In the past, Singapore's airport used to be the best , however, other countries are catching up soon. For example, shanghai's airport has been improving and it is almost as good as Singapore's. As china becomes better, there will be competitors against Singapore. I think Singapore is facing a threat now since the ice in arctic is melting and it opens new route for boats so boats to not need to go pass Singapore to reach the other side of the world. I feel that Singapore needs to improve itself by learning and improvising from other countries and attracting foreigners using its pros such as advanced medication and safety, so that there will be more tourists in Singapore .

                 I feel that Yangzhou indeed put in a lot of effort in preserving the cultural heritage. They had specialized museum such as paper cutting and wood printing. I went to interviewed the people working at the wood printing museum on why they chose to do this and the challenges faced. I was told that they did it willingly in hope that the future generation would have a chance to know these cultures and they do it as a hobby. They also said that it was hard for them to earn money as many people are not interested in using wood printing as they prefer to use keyboard and printer which is easier to use. I respect them. Even though there are other jobs available in the job market which could earn them money but they are willing to take on this hard Jobs despite the long time and much effort to learn the skills, the less income earned. They think it is their duty as a Chinese to let the future generation to at least know their own culture. I think that wood printing is essential for China to be what it is now. Without wood printing, words that were passed on to other people may change along the way and people may get the wrong message. Moreover, without wood printing, China's culture such as Buddhism would be unable to be spread to other parts of the world such as Japan and Singapore. In Yangzhou, they also preserve traditional old restaurant such as lushi old mansion so that the customers would be able to enjoy and appreciate the culture while eating. In Singapore, there are very few restaurants with traditional theme to it as it is time consuming . In order to preserve Singapore's culture, I think Singapore can preserve old shophouses while selling food in the shophouses so people will visit them. We can also have restaurants having a modernized look on the outside and traditional in the inside to strike a balance both and it would give a fresh new feeling to the customers.

                  In the past, I used to think that Chinese people were rude . on our second day at china, a lady at the post office was very rude to us , shouting at us and wanted us to get out of the post office. Seeing that, I was thinking that it proves my point of Chinese people. However, when we went to hai do Lao, my impression of the Chinese changed totally. When we arrived there, they greeted us with a smile and brought us to our table. They also offered us spectacles wipes and apron to wipe our foggy spectacles and to prevent us from dirtying our clothes. They would also apologize for not refilling the drink in time Even though it was nothing to feel apologetic about. I think their service towards their customers are very good. The smile they gave us was very sincere as though they really wanted to smile for us from their heart, unlike in Singapore restaurants , some of the them do not even gave their costumes a smile but instead a grumpy expression. I also think that the waiters and waitress here take pride in their job and respect it, compared to Singapore, they think that it is a lowly paid job and it is disgraceful to have a Job as such. Not only that they are also people orientated and respected us a lot even though we are just children. I do notice that in Singapore, whenever they see many children as customers, they would be very unhappy and do not really welcome them as a child's appetite is not as big as an adult, thus it will not be so profitable, I think that they should treat every customers the same regardless of age. Moreover, another factor for their good service is that they share the company stocks so they will work extra hard to make sure the company earns more money.

                I used to think that Singapore's education system was very stressful, with long schools hours, immense amount of homework and with strict teachers. However, after the exchange with a school Yangzhou, i feel that Singapore's education system was not bad after all. In Yangzhou, the school hours is longer than in Singapore. the students had to reach school earlier than us and end school daily at around 4-5 in the evening, without any other activities such as ccas. There is one thing that I like about China's education system is that they have a sleeping period and after every lesson, there would be a 5 mins break for some simple exercises such as rubbing near the eyes. I think it is a rather good thing as it allow the students to relax after an hour of focusing. In Singapore, it is rather hard to keep focusing in class for 3 hours consecutively. Moreover, I realize that really see teachers as an important figure in their life. Once a teacher. Forever a parent. They respect their teachers a lot and they do not dare to talk back or laugh at the teachers. Unlike in Singapore, respect towards teachers do not seem to be obvious. We talk back to the teachers and laugh at them when they made a mistake. In Yangzhou, the students seemed to have a good attitude towards learning. In class, they sat up straight with their arms crossed. They also do not talk to each other during lessons and that they are not allowed to bring their mobile phones to school so that they will be not be distracted and the teachers would spent lesser time scolding, so that the teacher can use those time to teach the students more things. The students are also very confident when they stand up to answer and are willing to do anything which the teacher asks them to do so. Compared to students in Singapore, we would be very reluctant to answer and do the things assigned to us. These are the pointers which I thing singapore’s education system could learn from china’s education system. However, I think that the toilets in china’s school could be improved as the toilets are very dirty and has no privacy. I feel that the school should at least allow the students empty their bowel at a better place. For instance, when I was at their school, I do not dare to enter the toilets even though it was very urgent. causing one from emptying their bowel would result the students to feel uncomfortable. I think that the school should at least have a door for privacy purposes. After this school exchange, I start to realize that singapore’s education system was not as bad as I thought it would be. At least in Singapore, we have the freedom to sit any posture we want and we are allowed to bring our mobile phones to school. Not only  that, our school hours are shorter than in china so that we students have more time to rest at home.

               Lastly, I’m proud to be a Singaporean for its strict laws, education and its toilet. When we were at china, the people there do not really follow the traffic rules. When it was red light and it was our turn to get to the opposite side of the street, there were cars driving past us and it was very dangerous as it could it to many accidents. not only that, to the hotels and lifts, even some shops, that we went there would also be cigarette smell, which is very smelly and disturbing. Luckily, in Singapore, there are strict traffic rules and strictly prohibited, with fines as punishment so that the citizen will reduce the chances of breaking the laws. In Singapore, the study environment is very conducive and the chance of very children being able to study is rather high. Not only that, the government also aids students, who needs financial assistance and have good grades, by wavering their school fees so they will have a chance to study. Finally, Singapore have very clean toilets and they can be found all around Singapore, so the citizen can empty their bowel without feeling disgusted or uncomfortable by the toilets.

oelp reflection - qi ting

In the 7 days of this OELP trip to Yangzhou, China, I have learnt a little more about China’s history and culture and also gained new experiences. In the 2 days when we visited the Chinese school, I also had a chance to make new friends with the Chinese students there and experience how studying in a school in China will be like. Also, I feel that this trip has provided me with opportunities to bond closer with my friends and classmates.

In these 7 days, I have learnt to take care of myself better and experienced living without my parents around. I did not I have parents to take care of me in the trip so I had to take care of myself, and this was a new experience for me, because normally, at home, my parents, or maid would usually be there to take care of me. Besides having to take care of myself, without parents, there would also be no one there to always watch me or control me. I feel that while it is nice to have a little more freedom without parents around, I should still try to learn a little more self-control.

Apart from experiencing living without parents around, this trip has also improved my knowledge on China and exposed me their cultures. In these 7 days, we visited many of China’s historical sites and places of interest such as Geyuan Garden and the , got to try much of Chinese cuisine, and even had opportunities to try doing some of China’s traditional handicraft such as 剪纸. Since I rarely go to China, and only went once before, all this is a new experience for me. This trip has also let me see China in a different light, as there were certain stereotypes I had against China before, but after this trip, I can see that some of these stereotypes are not true. This trip has made me more aware of the values and beliefs of people from China.

In the 4th and 5th days, we visited the Chinese school 扬大附中东部分校初中学部 and interacted and attended with some of the students there. We were assigned buddies to take care of us in the 2 days at their school. Although it was rather awkward at first when we first met our buddies and some of the Chinese students as they spoke mostly Chinese while we Singaporeans were used to speaking English, it took a while before we got used to speaking with them using Chinese. Apart from communication, it was also difficult for us to find a common topic that we could talk about. In the end, I still managed to make some friends with the Chinese students. In these 2 days attending lessons with the Chinese students, I experienced how studying in a school in China felt like and found out the differences between China’s education system and that of Singapore’s. I also observed some good qualities in the Chinese students, for example, during lessons, the students are very attentive, they sit up straight, do not make a lot of noise by talking, they do not even go to the toilets much until after the lesson. Unlike in Singapore, students are usually completely opposite of Chinese students in this aspect. I feel that this something I can learn from the Chinese students. China’s school system is also different from Singapore’s. In a school in a China there is always a short break in between lessons and lunch break is much longer than in Singapore’s as there is even a rest period after lunch 午休. However, this also makes their school time much longer than in Singapore, school ending at 6 on normal school days. I still prefer Singapore’s school system though as although we have CCAs that also end at 6, our normal school days still end much earlier than in China.

In conclusion, I feel that this trip is a new experience and has increased my knowledge on China, exposed me to China’s cultures, allowed me to make new friends, and at the same time bond with my friends and classmates.

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Has the trip increased my knowledge of China and how it has an impact on Singapore?
Yes, the trip has increased my knowledge of China. China is prospering and becoming more and more developed, so maybe next time when I grow older and I need to find work, I may need to go to China for work, so having more knowledge of China would be beneficial.


Have you become more aware of the values and beliefs of people from China?
Yes, in these 7 days spent in China, we visited many of China’s historical sites and places of interest, and this has let me have exposure to China’s culture and heritage.


Are you proud to be a Singaporean?
Yes, I am. Although I enjoyed the experience of staying in China in this trip, I still prefer Singapore and I am proud to be Singaporean.


In this trip, you have visited two cities with a long history and rich culture. What did the Chinese do to preserve and promote their culture? What can Singapore learn from China to preserve and promote Chinese culture in Singapore?
While China is developing, the Chinese are trying to strike a balance between modernizing and preserving culture and heritage. There is a restaurant we visited in this trip, Lushi Old Mansion, which focuses on preserving tradition and culture. The building of the restaurant is not like the modern restaurants we did normally find; this restaurant preserves many old-fashioned designs and architectures. In Singapore, we might be focusing too much on modernizing, and in the process, we may have forgotten our past, heritage, and culture. We should learn from China, to strike a balance between developing and modernizing and preserving culture and heritage.

oelp reflection - winnie

Yes, the trip has increased my knowledge of China and how it has an impact on Singapore. Firstly, China is fast catching up on its economy as seen in their rising GDP(Gross Domestic Product)The Gross Domestic Product is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year, or over a given period of time.GDP per capital is often used as an indicator of a country's material standard of living. China's GDP is 8.227 trillion USD while Singapore's GDP is 274.7 billion. It is possible that one day China would catch up and overwrite Singapore. With China's Economy prospering, Singapore may be on stake. Singapore may be in prosperity now but for how long? We have no natural resources and much land. We are just a tiny red dot in the world's map and have nothing to rely on but on the talent of our people.

Singapore is a highly developed trade-orientated market economy .However, Singapore's position as a maritime hub is being questioned when the new route-the Northern Sea Route(NSR)-eventually becomes commercially viable. Ships may bypass Singapore, which is at present a key shipping node on the route via the Suez Canal, a 193km passage between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Furthermore, using of the new route would allow the ships to reach their destination earlier, using lesser fuel. Although analysts do not expect the threat posed by the NSR to business via the Suez Canal and Singapore to be immediate. Singapore has began to feel the stress and thus is preparing for competition, not just from the NSR but the rest of the shipping world. It is building a new mega-port in Tuas and the first phase of development is expected to be ready in 10 years' time. By then, this mega-port will handle an even greater volume of shipping - up to 65 million standard-sized containers a year, slightly more than double the figure reached by the existing port facilities last year. Although this shows that Singapore will continue to progress and catch up with the competition, this may only be for now because we lack land and natural resources. On the other hand, China has a large piece of land and is able to further make use of it for buildings and architectures. China is not that less-developed as one would think China would be. China is fast progressing and is soon going to overtake America to be the world's economy leader. We should not underestimate China's power and their progress. Singapore should find other ways to improve ourselves by developing new technologies and making sure we will always progress.

Yes I am more aware of the values and beliefs of people from China. I could tell that the Chinese places great emphasize on the education of the Chinese. I heard from the tour guide that parents would "buy" the place to top-notch universities, for their children if their scores are not enough. The students are very proactive in class and would raise their hands to answer the questions posted by the teachers. They would not slouch during lessons and would keep their backs straight with their arms folded, giving 100% attention to the teacher. This shows that they wanted to learn everything that the teacher had said so that they can score well in the tests .However, in Singapore we would slouch and play with our stationeries, sometimes talking about ourselves. The students in Yangzhou are also optimistic and do not complain and whine about having to be in school by 6.50am.and having their lessons to end at 6pm.However,we,the students in Singapore would be complaining about how stressful and tiring we are when we goes to school at 7am and end classes at about 2.30pm and on CCA days, at 6pm.The students in Yangzhou are also very optimistic because they would always wear a smile on their faces although something had went wrong. For example. Once, while my buddy and I were having a Chinese painting lesson, I went to draw a fish that was very complicated. I did not know how to control the fish and thus the whole fish became black and does not even look like one. I was very anxious and unhappy, wanting to draw one again. However, my buddy was smiling and was calm, saying that it was alright. She also gave me a new paper. She would always reassure me saying that all was well when I made a slightest mistake .Also, the Chinese are also very conservative and appreciates past history. For example, when we danced the Korean dance as part of the cultural-exchange performances, the students from Yangzhou, although they like these dances as much as us, they do not show it. This is because the dance is considered quite sexy and they do not often do or see such dance danced in public. The Chinese also appreciates what they have experienced in the past and their culture. Yangzhou have preserve their historical sites and culture very well. For example, in the Geyuan which is a private residential garden with the longest history, is owned by Huang Zhi Yun, a salt merchant in the Qing dynasty. The government did not tear down the place but instead preserved the place and made little changes to this place. Huang Zhi Yun loved bamboo, which he saw as an expression of uprightness, braveness, and loyalty (one must remember that in spite of its delicate appearance, the bamboo lives on steep mountain slopes that are subject to inexorable and often extreme winds, yet the bamboo stands tall and proud), so he planted them everywhere in the garden. A cluster of three bamboo leaves resemble the Chinese character 个 and hence the name of the garden .This was also noted by Yuan Mei, a writer during the Qing Dynasty "the moonlight made the bamboo shadows hundreds of the character ge". The owner chose the name ”Ge Yuan” for his garden to correspond to his name, Zhi Yun (至筠, which also means "bamboo").The bamboo shoots are called filial bamboo shoots because the older ones are in the middle while the younger ones are outside. This shows that the elders are the priority in the past. Yangzhou was famous for its monopoly of the salt trade in the past. This would show that the Chinese would preserve anything that is related to their history and is able to show it well. This place shows that the salt merchants then were very rich and that people in the past deeply believes in Confucianism. This is because bamboo leaves represents piety in Confucianism. Yangzhou people had also kept their tradition of eating a heavy breakfast that consists of many different types of buns and dumplings. The ancient Chinese describe the laid-back lifestyle in Yangzhou by referring to both the morning ritual of eating breakfast and the evening ritual of public bathing. They spoke of "the (dim sum) skin surrounding water (soup) in the morning and (bath) water surrounding skin in the evening." They still say that today, and it still holds true.

Yes, I am proud to be a Singaporean. This is because Singapore is much more developed than China. This can be seen in the buildings and even the toilets. For example, Singapore's toilet has a proper flushing system and a better privacy than those in China. Our toilets are also much cleaner than theirs. Moreover, our buildings and architectures are much more elaborately designed and is well maintained. Singapore is also a safe country to be in. The Singaporean government and its strong arm of the law, the Singapore Police Force, run a tight ship in terms of keeping the city and its residents safe and sound. The results are clearly visible: Crime in Singapore is very low, and the country has a reputation as being one of the safest places around the globe. Also, in Singapore, we have a very low chance of having water or food poisoning, unlike in China. Some vendors in China uses the sewage oil for the food that they cook and even pass rat meat off as pork. We can be very safely assured that such possibilities occurring in Singapore is very slim.
This sums up everything:
1. Clean & green environment 
2. Low crime rates
3. High efficiency workforce
4. Uncorrupted government 
5. Stable but high living standards
6.Delicious food 
7.Multi-racial and multi-religious harmony
8.Disaster-free country 
10. Good welfares for Singaporeans & foreigners 
11.Striving to make things as good as they can be – constant improvement 
12 Law to maintain order and peace 
13.Best airport, best airline, best workforce in the world, best quality of life among Asia countries 
14. Harmonious multi-racial community

The Chinese do not demolish the architecture and building. They try to keep the place as to what it looks like in the past to their very best. However, they also added in some new and modern amenities. For example, in Dong Quan Men, the walls are still made of very rough rocks shaped like bricks. There are also wooden doors and there are people living there. The alley's main entrance dates back to the Qing Dynasty. Small restaurants and craft shop line the alley, yet it thankfully lacks any sense of commercialization. Other small alleys jet off to the sides, and wooden doors representing multiple eras of China's lengthy history. Although these places allow for a unique opportunity to look into China's past and observe what has already been demolished in most other Chinese cities, some of them have modernized. For example, there are pipes that provides water and electricity to the people living there. This shows that although they still preserve the past architecture, they still need to have some modern amenities so as to survive in this world today. The Yangzhou people has also turned the Lushi Old Mansion to a restaurant. There are also modern facilities in the restaurant such as light bulbs and swivel table. They promote their culture when these places attracts tourist to these places. When the tourist enters these places, they get a better understanding of their past and history when they look at the furniture and design of the place. The Yangzhou people are very creative to turn a Mansion into a restaurant as people get to feel what it was like to be eating in such an ancient and old place, getting the feel of what it is like in the past. Furthermore, it is very unique and would then thus attract many customers. These places are also turned into a tourist attraction for others to learn about their past. Singapore, due to constrain of land, has demolished many of such buildings with historical meanings and stories behind them. Singapore can also have restaurants that are build in historical buildings so as to preserve the culture and attract customers at the same time as it is not commonly seen. This would help the country to earn money but at the same time preserving our culture. However, due to the constrain of land, we would also need to demolish some parts of the place. We need to preserve places that would promote our Chinese culture so that the younger generations would be educated on it, not forgetting our past. If a restaurant in a historical building were to be build, just like the LuShi Old Mansion, Singaporeans would be attracted to the shop and enjoy their meals while trying to find out more about the site's history through their decorations and furniture. This would ensure that younger generations would still know about the site's history and would not be forgotten.

oelp reflection - MIng How

After this 7-days long of OELP trip to Shanghai and Yangzhou together with 2G, I have experienced a lot and also learnt a lot at the same time. Firstly, my knowledge of Shanghai has greatly increased and I am also now more aware of the impact China has on Singapore. For example, I got to know more as to why the China government is willing to spend such a large amount of money on setting up lights on Shanghai buildings. It is because setting up lights on the buildings will make the modern buildings look more beautiful and this can attract a lot of more tourists to come and visit. This earns money for the government since more tourists would then spend more money in their country, allowing the country to grow even more economically. Through this trip, I have also realized the importance of Singapore continue making the effort to improve because if we do not make the effort to keep up with other countries that are developing economically and improving so quickly, we would be easily overtaken and might be swallowed up by other countries, having no chances of survival in the future.

In Yangzhou, we went to RV’s sister school扬大附中东部分校初中学部 for a culture exchange with the students there. My buddy’s name is 王逸菲, and she told me a lot about Yangzhou’s culture and places of interest. I also got to know how their school operates by attending their lessons together with the students there. One of the thing that left the deepest interest in me was the discipline of the students there. Unlike the students in Singapore,  students in the Yangzhou school were very attentive and participative in class. They sat up straight and gave their fullest attention to the teacher, while being proactive in answering the teacher’s questions. Among all the lessons I have attended with them, the one that I liked and enjoyed most was the 端午节lesson. In that lesson, I have learnt some of the culture of Yangzhou and how people in Yangzhou celebrated this festival. They did many other things like 佩戴香囊，插艾草 and 吃十二红 which was not common to see in Singapore. There was also this hand on activity where we got to make our own necklace that can hold an egg. This was quite interesting to me since I have never seen or done anything like that before. In conclusion, this trip has also made me more aware of the values and beliefs of people from China.

From this trip, I also got to see how the Chinese managed to preserve and promote their own culture. For example, in Shanghai, we have visited many places like the Bund, French Concession, Huang Pu Jiang. One of things that I noticed is that even though on the outside the buildings look very well-preserved, there were many modern shops and cafes like Starbucks that could be found on the inside. This could mean that Shanghai has managed to strike a balance between modernization and preserving its culture, allowing to China to not only grow economically but also promoting its own heritage at the same time. In order to prevent their national heritage traditional buildings to slowly become useless and be merely taking up space, they made sure that these places become more enjoyable for tourists to visit by introducing modern shops and cafes like Starbucks. They have not only allowed these places to earn more money for the country but also made it a more comfortable tourist attraction for people to enjoy. On the other hand, in Yangzhou, we visited places like 瘦西湖 and 雕版印刷博物馆. Over there in Yangzhou there are a lot of places with beautiful scenery, therefore many tourists would be attracted and therefore visit Yangzhou. This can therefore help Yangzhou in promoting China’s culture.

After visiting Shanghai and Yangzhou, even though I enjoy being there very much, I am still proud to be a Singaporean. One of the reason is probably because in Singapore that is much smaller as compared to China, we face much lesser competition as compared to what the students in China face. As a result, we would not need to handle so much stress as compared to what the student in China need to handle since everyone is less competitive. Also, we get to enjoy better facilities and have a better quality of life in Singapore. For example, the variety of food we get to choose in both countries. In Singapore, since we are a multi-racial country, we are given a large variety of food for us to choose from. We can eat different dishes made by different races everyday but in China, we mainly just get to enjoy Chinese cuisine only.

In a nutshell, this OELP has generally been a fruitful and meaningful one to me and I enjoyed it very much. This was a rare overseas learning experience for me and through this learning trip I was able to understand China’s culture better and change my impressions of the people of China. This trip has also allowed me to understand my teachers and peers better and it provided a good opportunity for the whole class to bond together. If given another chance to go on an overseas learning trip with 2G again, I would definitely go for it again.

oelp reflection - valerie

This overseas learning trip to Yangzhou, China has improved my knowledge of China and taught me about the impacts on Singapore. Through this trip, I learnt more about the economy of China, it’s tourism and it’s conservation efforts. I can see that Yangzhou depends a lot on the tourism for its economy. They maintained their old and historical sites such as Tianzifang and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal for tourists to visit. When tourists visits their historical sites, they would spend money for the entrance fee and also spend money purchasing souvenirs, thus Yangzhou would be able to earn more money through their tourism. It also affects Singapore as its rising economy would bring competition to Singapore’s economy.

I have also become more aware of the values and beliefs of people of China after going to several locations, such as the bullet trains and HaiDiLao, and observing the Chinese living in China. On the bullet trains, we can see that the Chinese were considerate people as they kept very quiet throughout the entire ride to make sure that they do not disturb the other passengers on the train. The train even provided paper bags for their passengers to discard their unwanted things into to make sure that the train would be clean for their passengers’ comfort. In HaiDiLao, we could see that they pampered their customers like kings and queens as they believed in good service towards their customers. Their excellent service and special treatment towards their customers was what that lead to their success. Therefore, I have become more aware of the values and beliefs of people of China after going to several locations.

I am proud to be a Singaporean. I am proud to say that I am a Singaporean. Even though Yangzhou was amazing and unique in its own way, I still find Singapore my home, where I belong. For example, Singapore has an educational system totally incomparable from Yangzhou’s educational system. Here, we have our lessons, but we also focus on our co-curriculum activities which built up our values and qualities, whereby in China, their co-curriculum activities is only an extra lesson, they built up their characters though lessons and listening to their teachers. It may seem well for them as they are very obedient during lessons but they do not think for themselves, they only learn from what the teacher is teaching them. On the other hand, in Singapore, we may get rowdy and noisy at times but we consolidate and think through what has been taught, we do not just follow blindly. At the same time, we build up confidence to raise up questions to the teacher and gain social skills discussing with our classmates. Thus, I am proud to be a Singaporean.

The Chinese maintained their old heritage sites such as the Lushi Old Mansion. They maintained the old heritage mansion but at the same time, they refurnished the interior of the mansion into a very classy restaurant. It was an old heritage site, the house of a salt merchant in the past, but instead of tearing it down like we would in Singapore, it was maintained and converted into a restaurant for people to visit and enjoy their meals in the old building. We could learn from China to maintain the old heritage sites but convert it into a tourist attraction or into a restaurant, as was did in the Lushi Old Mansion. While the customers were enjoying the food served, they were also able to enjoy and experience the feeling of eating in the old ancient mansion.

Therefore, after visiting Yangzhou, I have learnt a lot and gained many more experiences which had taught me many lessons in life. I also enjoyed learning through experience like visiting the HaiDiLao restaurant to experience their attitudes and their culture first hand instead of just reading these from textbooks. This trip has taught me important lessons and learning through experience is a lesson I would never forget.

oelp reflection - Jianing

这次的学习旅程让我获益匪浅。现在的我对上海和扬州有更深一层的认识。当我们走在那热闹非凡的街道上，看着街边的商人与那里的当地人，我稍微地体会到那里的风土人情。还有，在扬大附中的交流不但让我结交了不少知心者，也让我了解到中国的学习制度与新加坡的学习制度是多么的相像，同时也是那么的不同。

到中国上海的第一天，我们去了很多著名的旅游景点，其中包括黄浦江，外滩等。在车上，周导游故我们介绍了很多。从他的介绍，让我对上海的历史文化了解不少，例如我学到为什么上海会有中西合并的建筑，学到为什么人民英雄纪念塔是由三把步枪组成的，等等。眨眼间，就到了晚上，吃了晚饭后，由于一位同学生体不适，他没办法与大家一起到船上欣赏上海的美丽夜景。
很快地，第二天的旅程在大家的嬉笑声中展开了。上午，我们去了上海城市规划馆。当我看到上海的模型时，我惊呆了，那时我才发现上海城市是多么的繁华。过后，我们又去了几个有趣的地方，买了许多纪念品，便依依不舍地离开上海，向扬州迈进。

在扬州前两天的上午，我们到扬大附中交流。在那里，我们上了很有趣的课，例如剪纸课，中国结的课，武术课等，这些课在立化很少见，所以我很感兴趣。那里的老师很亲切，上课时与学生的交流也很多。我觉得这是与在新加坡上课的第一个不同。有些老师自顾自的交课堂内容，但没去确认学生是否真的学会了，而学生也不会主动提出疑问。第二个不同是那里的学生往往都是傍晚6点才能放学，原因在于他们每上45分钟的课便会有10分钟的休息时间，而且他们的午休是两个小时。真正上课的时间与立化的不分上下，所以我认为中国的学习制度与新加坡的有很多的不同，但却又是那么的相似。

还有，下午的时候，周导游和刘姐姐会带大家参观很多不同的地方。同样的，那些地方都会让大家禁不住的惊叹。其中令我印象深刻的几个地方是东关历史文化街，volkswagen的工厂，最后还有欣赏千秋粉黛表演的地点。第一，大家去欣赏千秋粉黛表演。表演者是五名极其漂亮的扬州美女。表演中，他们介绍了扬州的食物，音乐艺术，还有的就是为什么扬州会有这么多的美女。接着，在东关历史文化街，我买了很多东西。从中，我学会如何管理身上的钱。我发现虽然平时我似乎对父母赚钱有多辛苦满不在乎，但要花钱的时候，我又不敢乱花，希望能省则省。最后，就是volkswagen的工厂。在那里，我第一次看到车的生产过程，简直让人叹为观止。

最后，我认为在中国的时间虽然很短暂，但我学到，体会到，看到，发现到的事情是多不胜数。这七天里，我学会独立，学会适应没有父母在身边的生活。我也发现自己虽然不是很了解但却能感受到赚钱的辛苦。所以这次的旅程，不仅让我增广见闻，看一看自己不曾注意到的世界，了解他们的风俗文化，还让我体会到了许多大人们都在教导的人生道理。过了这七天，我不会把学到的道理，知识忘掉，而它们则会陪我一起度过我的下半生。