Cassandra daily reflection

Day 1
The day that our class has been awaiting has finally arrived, the day we had to leave home and go to a unfamiliar place, 23 may. I was very excited as I board the flight, ready to go to china
After 6h we arrived at Shanghai.our first destination was the bund. On the way there, we saw several European styled buildings along the roads of Shanghai it was rather surprising to see china, an eastern country having western element in it. 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. We did selfie with sunset too !!
After that, we went to a restaurant to eat our dinner. It was my first time trying out china meal and I couldn't get used to it as most of the dish had capsicum which I hated a lot, so I did not try out most of the dishes.  
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 . During the boat rise, we did many cheering like banana cheer and titanic. The titanic cheer was the the most irony as we seemed as though we are cursing that our boat would sink. Hahah. 

Day 2
This is the second day that we in shanghai. We went to the French concession. There were many buildings with European style and Chinese works carved on it. The scene at French concession really made me felt that I was in England or Europe, especially with the earthly brown bricks. Even though, French concession was supposed to a historical place, one unique thing about that place is that there is a Starbucks outlet. I think that it is not very appropriate to have something smoke modern in a cultural heritage center. It defeats the purpose of being a cultural heritage. It would seem to be a cultural heritage center without history meaning I'm it. Even though I know that we should keep up with the current trend and modernization, to attract more tourist. I think they should have something more related to French concession to bring out that feeling, maybe some French culture element ?
Next we went to Haidilao. The service there was splendid. Before we even alighted they were already outside  waiting for us and they guided us to our seats. When we go to the toilet and wash our hands, they would also take tissue for us to wipe our hands. They provided glass wipes for us in case our glasses become misty. They also introduced the different types of food to us even though they cannot speak in English. I feel that they respect their job a lot as they see their customers as priority, 以人为本的. Maybe one reason is because they hold some shares of the company so they would be willing to put in 100% effort in work. 
After that we had a 4hrs bus ride to Yangzhou. On the way there, we played 'passing the speaker' and passed speaker and the one holding it when the music would have to do a forfeit. This game actually bond us together. 

Day 3 
Today we are going to taste yangzhou's breakfast at 冶春荼社早茶. On the way there, we saw many male elderly selling animals and chatting with each other. I feel that the life in Yangzhou is very slow paced as compared to Singapore. In Singapore, we have a very busy hectic life, even the elderly had to work despite their old age. I think we should learn from them, take a break for while for a longer route. At the tea house, we were surprised by the amount of food served to us. In Singapore , our breakfast mostly consist of 2 piece of bread and a glass of milk or fruit juice. However, over here, the breakfast consist if many buns, bread, cakes, vegetables, soup , meat and mushroom. One speciality of the food there is one bun which contains piping hot gravy in it and we needed to use a straw to drink the gravy first or else our tongue will burn ! The breakfast portion for us was too big that most of us couldn't eat much and most of the food were untouched. Even though I know that in Yangzhou breakfast is very important, however, I do not think that the food should be so oily. It's not good for health !!!  The food was too oily that I felt uncomfortable for the whole day.
Next we went to the slender west lake.  We realize that the people rowing the boats are mostly women and we were told that  women looked more elegant more more appealing than man. There were unique trees there. For example. There is one tree which would shake if we scratch it. It would seem as though the plant is sensitive towards tickle. However, it is due to the thin bark which makes the vibration travel up the plant , vibrating the leaves. 
We also went to a block printing museum which is a twin museum. There were displays of the instruments used for Chinese block printing, the process of it and many others. The displays were well-presented and interesting as I had never seen those display before in Singapore. There is even a hands-on section where you can see demonstrations. I think it was a very good opportunity for us to see the process of Chinese block printing. When I asked them on the reason they are willing to stay in the museum, they said it was their hobby and it was to allow the future generation to know the culture of Chinese. I personally think that the people doing the demonstrations worth our respect as they are willing to take their time and spent it at the museum just to pass on the Chinese culture to the next generation so that they would know their root., instead of joining other more attractive jobs. Without them, the culture of block printing may be vanished forever in the future.
Lastly we went to dong guan Jie to watch the xie fu chun performance. It was a performance to showcase the effect of the xie fu chun cosmetic product. The most fun of the performance was that we sabotage our friends to go up on stage to guess the meaning of the Yangzhou dialect and learn from it. Their accents were weird and it was hilarious. After the performance we went to dong guan jie to shop

Day 4
Today is the first day that we are going to visit a local school ,杨大附中东部初中学部, for immersion exchange program . At first I was rather excited to meet my buddy as we have been chatting through Emil for the past two weeks. We were warmly welcomed by the principal teachers and students. The school was much more bigger than ours. However, whenever we walked past the toilets, there would be a pungent smell coming from it. In order not to show disrespectful ness to the school, some of us had to held our breathe whenever we walk past. When we enter the interaction room, it was super awkward ! We have totally nothing to talk about. We went to attend their music lessons. The music lesson there is very different from ours. They mainly focus on Chinese instruments, unlike Singapore where we do music as a whole. We also went to their canteen to eat lunch. The lunch their is so different from ours. Their meal are all standardize which have fruits and soup.after their meal, they still have a 2h break which I like it a lot! How I wish we have such a break 
After the school immersion, we went to lushi old mansion to have our dinner.  We were led to our private dining room on the first floor of one of a series of enclosed courtyards. The waitress served us our food as we settled down. The dishes showcases Huaiyang cuisine featuring lightly flavoured and sweetish dishes containing salted chicken, stewed pork ball yangzhou fried rice, which is thought to have originated from the area, is a popular request. I think that the food there was quite nice but some of the dishes flavor were too strong and that I had to gulp down water.  The waitresses there are unable to understand mandarin well as they were natives of yangzhou so we had quite a hard time trying to ask for plain rice. Despite that, the waitresses introduced us to the dishes and recommend us to eat them as those were yangzhou’s specialties. I feel that they respect and feel proud of their job and being a native of Yangzhou. The best part over here is that it preserves its traditions while including modern elements into it, such as the traditional architecture. The traditional theme of the restaurant allows us to experience and appreciate show traditions while having our dinner.
Lastly, we went to Beijing-hangzhou grand canal. At the dock of the Beijing- Yangzhou grand canal, we saw many elderly doing some dance together which seemed quite fun.  The boat ride there is abit similar to Singapore's bumboat at Singapore river. Compared to Huang pu jiang, it does not have skyscrapers but instead, there were many bridges and the buildings are all very short.

Day 5
Today is the last day that we are going to be at 杨大附中东部初中学部. My heart was mixed to hesitance and reluctance to alight the bus, I didn’t want to leave this place so soon with such little memories . but In my mind, it was full of worries that I would stutter again in front of my buddy. Even though, my buddy and I could chat well without any language barrier behind a screen, however when It comes to face to face communication, there seemed to be a topic and language barrier between us. I cant seem to speak my feelings out and there was much awkwardness between us. I felt that there wasnt any common topic between us except school life.  As I alighted the bus, I walked into the interaction room with heavy footsteps, a face filled with awkwardness. When I handed her the gifts, I was still very worried that she would dislike it, but lucky she quite like it. We also had a exchange performance . They performed a very cultural performance which is very different from ours. Ours was more of our interest.
Later we went to a paper cutting museum , from there, we learnt the skills of paper cutting and had hands on experiences in cutting the paper. It was very hard to cut as the paper was very thin and most of us had torn our paper. imagine if we were to cut the complicated paper artwork, it would be many times harder than this , so we should respect such art, as it indeed require much time and effort, talent also !
We then went to zhu zi Qing resident . In his resident , we saw a lot of his work about china. I think he is really a patriotic. His love for his country is something that we cannot compare with. He really deserves our respect .
Day 6
Today we went to ge yuan, from there we can see how it got its name. It was surrounded by many bamboos and bamboos represent filial piety as the new bamboos grows out of the old  bamboos, surrounding it as though protecting it. There were many architecture there, for example,there is a arc built in the wall near a well as the air around the well would be moist and the bricks would be damp and rotten so with the arc they can remove the rotten bricks without demolishing the whole wall.
Next we went to daming temple. I realized that the roof of the temple are connected even though there were no nails, which proves that in the past the people have been already very smart and innovative. Many people would go here to pray for good academic results. I personally did not enjoy this location as since I was dehydrated earlier, the smoke from the burning of joss sticks made me difficult to breathe and uncomfortable.
Lastly we went to shanghai Volkswagen. We got to experience sitting in a mini car and witnessing the whole process of the making of cars, which is rarely seen or opened up for public to see. It was once in a lifetime opportunity for me. It also increases my knowledge towards Volkswagen as I did not know about this brand of cars until this trip to the company.

Day 7 
Today is the final and last day :(  we got to board a bullet train to Shanghai. We had to be at the train station before the arrival of the train or else we will miss or train. I feel that this train is much more better than Singapore's as it comes very punctually and it travels much more faster. Adding to that, the seats can be moved around so that friends can turn around and chat with each other more comfortably.Moreover, the train allows the consuming of food and yet it is still clean. Ironically. Singapore prohibit consuming of food or drink, but it is still very dirty, so I feel that the problem actually lies on ourselves. If china can do it, why can't we? We are not less responsible than the Chinese.