Qi Ting's daily reflection

Day 1
It was finally the day of the OELP trip to China. I was very excited that day as it was the first time I would be going overseas with my friends and without my parents. 
The flight to Shanghai was 6 hours long. After arriving at Shanghai and meeting our tour guide, the first place we visited was the bund. Over there, one of the interesting things we saw was a monument to remember the three wars which China had gone through, which are the Opium War, World War 2 and the Chinese Civil War. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant to have our dinner. Since this was one of the few times which I had the chance of trying out Chinese cuisine, I was not really used to it and preferred Singaporean food. After dinner, we went for a boat ride at the Huang Pu Jiang (黄浦江). On the boat ride, we got to see Shanghai's night scenery, where we saw many colourfully lit-up buildings, brightening up the night sky. From this, I can see that the government actually put in a lot of effort into making the Huang Pu Jiang into a tourist attraction. 

Day 2
Our first destination was the French concession. There, we saw many European-style buildings, even though we were in China. The environment there, with all the European-style designs and brown bricks, almost made me feel like I was really in Europe. However, although the French concession was supposed to be a historical site, there is the Starbucks outlet there, which I feel is not very appropriate to have there. Having something so modern in a historical site, gets rid of what makes the historical site, a historical site. It would be like a historical site, without historical meaning in it. However, we should consider that China needs to keep up with the current trend and modernise. As such striking a balance between preserving culture and heritage and mordenising is important. After that, we went to Hai Di Lao (海底捞) for lunch. The dining experience there was unforgettable for many reasons. Firstly, the service provided was excellent. The staff members there were very polite, for example, when serving a dish, if the waiter places the plates on the table too loudly, they would even apologise to us. Spectacle cloths were provided before we started eating in case our glasses got dirty, ziplock bags were provided to protect our phones, hair bands were provided for girls to tie up their hair, and so on, all these are services which we would not normally see in a restaurant. Even when we go to the toilets to wash our hands, the staff would help us take tissues for us to wipe our hands. From this, I can see that they probably liked and respected their job a lot, as they treat all of their customers with sincerity and respect, putting customers as priority. After lunch, we had a 4 hour long bus ride to Yangzhou. During the trip, we played some games to pass the time. One of them was the "pass the speaker" game, where music would be played with the speaker while the speaker was being passed around. When the music stops, the last person holding the speaker would have to do a forfeit. We had quite a bit of fun with this game and afterwards, most of us just did our own things or just slept.

Day 3 
We are at Yang Zhou today. Our first destination was the 冶春荼社, where we would be having our first breakfast at Yang Zhou. On the way there, one of the interesting things we saw was that there were many elderlies selling animals while chatting with one another. From this, I can see that life in Yangzhou is very slow-paced and relaxed unlike Singapore, where most of us have a very busy, hectic life. I feel that maybe we should learn from them, that sometimes we should learn to take a break. At the tea house, I was shocked by the portion of food served to us. In Singapore, for me, my breakfast would normally be only one or two slices of bread with milo or some other drink. However, here at Yang Zhou, the breakfast consists of many buns, cakes, vegetables, soup, and even meat. One of the unique foods which I tried was the bun which had some hot soup in it. The proper way to eat it is to use a straw to suck up the soup inside before eating the whole bun. Most of us could not finish the food as the amount of food served was too much. From this, I can see that the people of Yang Zhou really feel that breakfast is very important. I feel that we could all learn something from this too, as sometimes, in Singapore, we might be too busy to even have a proper breakfast, and this may be detrimental to our health in the long run. After breakfast, we went to the slender west lake, where we had a boat ride. One of the interesting things there was that the people rowing the boats were mostly women, and not men strangely. We were told that the reason for this is that women rowing the boats would look more elegant than if men were to row the boats. Another interesting thing is the unique trees there. One of the trees there would shake slightly when scratched. We were told that this is due to the thin bark of the plant, such that when the plant is scratched, the vibration of the plant would travel up to the leaves, and hence, causing the plant to shake slightly. Next, we went to a block printing museum. There, we saw displays of the instruments used for Chinese block printing, and also some demonstrations of the process of block printing itself. I feel that this is a very good chance for us to see the process of Chinese block printing and get to know more about Chinese culture and history at the same time. When the people were asked why they were willing to stay in the museum and do these demonstrations, they said that block printing was their hobby and that this would allow the future generation to know more about this culture, so that the culture of block printing may not be lost. I feel that we should respect the people doing the block printing demonstrations as they are willing sacrifice their time at the museum doing block printing demonstrations just to pass on this culture to future generations so that the culture may not be lost. These people could have spent their time doing other things or pursing other better jobs but they did not. Without people like them, the culture of block printing may have already been lost long ago. Our last destination was Dong Guan Jie (东关街), where we watched the Xie Fu Chun (谢馥春) performance. This performance was to showcase the effects of the cosmetic products of Xie Fu Chun. The most interesting part of the programme was when we got to sabotage our friends to go up on stage to guess the meaning of some Yang Zhou dialect, and afterwards, to try speaking the dialect. It was funny to hear our friends trying speak the dialect. After the programme, we shopped at Dong Guan Jie for a while before heading back to the hotel.

Day 4
Today is the first day that we will be going to visit a local Chinese school ,杨大附中东部初中学部, for the immersion program. I was excited but at the same time, nervous to go to the school then, as it was the first time for me to go to a school overseas for an immersion programme. I did not know what my buddy was going to look like, or even what the teachers or students would be like. We had our breakfast on the bus on the way to the school. Upon reaching, we were warmly welcomed by the principal, teachers, and students. The first thing which I noticed about the school was that the school was much bigger as compared to ours' in Singapore. However, one bad thing is that the toilets were really dirty. Whenever we passed the toilets, there would always be very strong, pungent smell coming from it. Every time we walked pass the toilets, we had to either endure the smell or hold our breath so as to not show disrespect. From this, I think that we should learn to appreciate the toilets we have in Singapore, as it is already very clean as compared to here. We were shown around the school before being brought to a classroom where we first met our buddies. At first, it was really awkward for many reasons. For one, the language we used. I was used to speaking English and to be honest I could not communicate very well with Chinese. To add on, my buddy and I did not really have much to talk about. As such, it mostly just awkward silence during the interacting time with my buddy, though after awhile, we gradually warmed up to each other and talked a little. Afterwards, we left our buddies and went to attend their music lessons. The music lesson there is very different from ours, in terms of what they teach. In Singapore, we usually learn music as a whole, while in China, they learn about music in China, and about what instruments were used. After lessons, we went with our buddies to the canteen to eat lunch. The lunch there is also different from ours. Their lunches are provided in boxes and are all standardised, and in addition to the usual food, their meals also consists of some soup and fruits. I quite liked the food at the school. After having lunch, we had a 2 hour break and following that, a nap time for the students there. During the break, we played games with the students there and talked with them, giving us an opportunity to make friends with the students there and interact with them. Although I like the long breaks schools in China have, I rather not have more breaks in school than have school end later, which is at 6pm in for schools in China. After the break, we had some more activities and left the school at late afternoon. Next, we went to Lu Shi old mansion to have our dinner. At the restaurant, we finally got to try out more of Yang Zhou's cuisine, including the famous Yang Zhou fried rice, which I rather enjoyed. The unique thing about this restaurant is that it preserves tradition. The designs and decorations of the restaurant is like those of a restaurant we might see in China in the past. I feel that this is something that few restaurants have. After dinner, we went to the last destination of the day, Beijing-Yangzhou grand canal, where we went for a boat ride. The boat ride at the grand canal is similar to Singapore's bumboat rides at the Singapore river. However, compared to the boat ride at Huang Pu Jiang, we did not see any skyscrapers, but instead, there were many bridges and small buildings around the area. 

Day 5
Today is the last day of our school immersion programme, the last time that we would be visiting 杨大附中东部初中学部. During these 2 days, I did not really get to see my buddy much as she had other classes and hence had to go off often. As such I did not interact with her much, but nevertheless, we exchanged gifts and said goodbye. The last programme we had at the school was the performances put up by us and the students there. The students of their school had a cultural performance, while ours was more of a modern dance performance. I enjoyed the performances, though I feel a bit ashamed that the performance put up by us, the boys, was quite last minute and unprepared. After the programme at the school, we went to a paper cutting museum. There, we learnt more about the history of paper cutting and its culture. We also had some hands-on experience with paper cutting, where we learnt how to do paper cutting properly and also got to try out paper cutting. At first, I thought paper cutting was quite easy, as it sounds simple, just cutting out designs on paper. However, when we got to try it out ourselves, I found it very difficult to cut out the designs as the designs were rather complicated, especially at the small, detailed parts. Moreover, we had to be careful with the paper, as the paper was quite thin and easy to tear by accident. At one point when cutting, I got so frustrated I gave up. It's really hard to imagine how people in the past could cut so much more elaborate and beautiful designs. As such, I feel that we should learn to respect this culture.

Day 6
Our first destination today was the Ge Yuan garden. At the garden, I learnt how the garden got its name, and got to learn a little more about Chinese culture and history. The garden is surrounded by bamboo, which represent filial piety, as new bamboo grows to surround the old bamboo, making it seem like the new bamboo is protecting the old bamboo. We also saw many unique architecture there. One example, is the stone arc built into the wall near a well. This was built as the air around the well was moist, and as such, the bricks would become damp and need maintenance overtime, so with the arc there, they can remove the bricks for replacement without having to demolish the whole wall. Afterwards, we visited the Daming temple. We walked around the area while the tour guide told us some facts about the place and I learnt that many people would actually come here to pray for good academic results. Perhaps I should pray too. The last place we visited was Shanghai Volkswagen. There, we had ride on a minicar and got to witness the whole process of making cars, something which we rarely get to see. I quite enjoyed the experience and this trip has also let me learn more about cars and car-making companies like Volkswagen. I rarely pay attention to the cars we see everyday so this trip has increased my knowledge about them.

Day 7
Today is finally the last day of our trip. For today, we spent most of the time travelling. I got to experience travelling in a bullet train for the first time that day, as we boarded the bullet train to Shanghai. I feel that this transport system, as compared to Singapore's, is better as I noticed that the trains are much more punctual than the MRTs in Singapore. Also, the Chinese would queue up orderly at the trains' doors, unlike in Singapore, where most people would just rush in or squeeze in when the MRT arrives. I think that this is something we can learn from the Chinese. Inside the train, I also noticed how clean the train was, even though eating was allowed in the train. In Singapore, even though eating is prohibited in the trains, the trains are still not as clean. I think that this is also another thing we could learn from the Chinese about being considerate. Something unique in the bullet train is the seats. The seats are rotatable, allowing one to turn back to chat with a friend easily and comfortably. Perhaps this kind of seats can be implemented in some of Singapore's transport systems as well. After reaching Shanghai by bullet train, we took a bus to the airport, where we finally flew back home.

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.