25/5 Day 1:
Since we landed in Shanghai and our destination was
Hefei, we had to take a High speed rail there. The timing for our train was
around 9 in the morning; therefore we had to wake up early in the morning to
prepare ourselves. Many of us looked dead tired due to the lack of rest the
previous day, therefore the majority of us were sleeping on the high speed
rail. Since I had gotten the window seat on the high speed rail, I managed to
wake up in between naps and observed the view behind the window. The view I saw
when we were almost reaching awed me; I have never seen this kind of things in
Singapore before. I believe it was a plantation of some sort (not sure about
this). Since I was either sleeping or looking out the window, I had forgotten
to check if we could have access to Wi-Fi, as the presentation group had
mentioned before we embarked on this journey. The ride was quite pleasant; the
seats were large and comfortable.
(At the station before departing)
When we were making our way to our bus after getting
off the high speed rail, I realized that the weather in Hefei was not really
what I had expected it to be, it was actually really warm.
On the bus, we were introduced to our tour guide
(unfortunately, I do not remember her name). We explored 三河古镇 together, and I learnt quote a
great deal about the people that used to live there, their cultures.
Of the 3 meals we had today, I would have to say I enjoyed
dinner the most, by quite a huge margin compared to the previous 2 too. The
place we went to for lunch had pretty bad toilets; the door of the girls’
toilet couldn’t even lock. Therefore, the girls who needed the toilet had to
unite and hold the toilet doors for one another. Fortunately, the place we went
to for dinner had pretty decent food (and toilets, too) Since we had a long day
of walking around exploring, we all ate pretty well.
26/5 Day 2:
Today, the day we were all awaiting finally came! We were
finally going to meet our buddies, whom we’ve been contacting with through
email a few days prior. We were all pretty bummed when we were told our time
with them has been cut to only 1 day, because of some change in schedule. On the
way to their school, 合肥45中, I had mixed feelings about
meeting my buddy. I was excited, but at the same time quite nervous. We had
lessons with them, and I felt quite bad as I could not really catch onto what
the teacher was delivering. The students were all very enthusiastic, unlike the
students in Singapore, who all seem quite uninterested. We left the school for
lunch, came back for a few more lessons then proceeded to their house.
My buddy bikes home, and therefore she had asked her
parents to come fetch me with a bike. Since I was wearing a pinafore, it was
quite a difficult task, so I ended up sitting on the back chair of her parent’s
bike. The ride was mildly terrifying, since they had to constantly swerve in
and out of traffic. At my buddy’s house, their parents were really nice to me
and prepared a lot of fruits. I also learnt how to play 五子棋by learning from her parents, and
her.
I was actually quite sad that we could only spend one
day together. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun today.
5 things I love about RV and why
1. Clean toilets.
I realized that the school we went to had toilets with
no doors, and smell quite bad too. I now appreciate our clean toilets that come
with doors.
2. The timetables.
In Hefei 45 Middle School, each period is 40 minutes
and they have many periods a day. This can be very stressful as they would have
to learn a lot of different things in a day.
3. The size of the classes.
My buddy told me that there are 62 people in the
class, nearly twice the size of our class. This means there are more people,
and I feel this may be a factor of distraction.
4. School hours.
The students in Hefei 45 Middle School study in the mornings
have a 2 hour break to eat and rest, and then have to continue lessons till around
5 or 6. We usually only need to go back at 6 twice a week, because of
co-curricular activities. I cannot imagine having to go home at 6 every day and
still have homework to complete.
5. Advanced facilities
In RV, we have a lot of facilities that the school in
China. We should learn to treasure it.
27/5 Day 3:
We went to the Anhui museum today, and learnt quite a
lot of things. I say many ancient things the past people used, and I observed
that anything that could stand, was usually on 3 legs. We also learnt more about
the 文房四宝,
and the 徽笔.
After that, we went to the 中国非物质文化遗产园. When we
first entered, we walked by, encountering some chickens placed in cages. While we
were all curious about it, we were told not to go near it. We soon went to a
nearby “theater” where the chickens were brought to a ring to fight. It was the
斗鸡. Like
many others. I was intruded, but later came to a realization that it was
actually quite cruel. Due to the fighting and shows they often had to put up,
their feathers were dropping and it was a sorry sight to see. Seeing my friend
cry after seeing the chickens’ fate, I felt inhumane for thinking it was
exciting at the start. We later went to the circus, where the first act was training
lions and tigers. The circus people were in an enclosed space with these known
to be ferocious animals, I worried for them. The lions refuse to cooperate,
therefore the circus people had to keep threatening them into performing by
hitting things around them, creating huge “bang” sounds everywhere. With that,
the lions started cooperating. While some of my friends left the show due to
them thinking it was very cruel. I was tempted to leave, but I thought about “the
other perspective” of what was happening. Were the circus people not afraid,
were they not human? Did they really want to do this to the animals or were
they forced to do this to earn a living? Since they weren’t hitting the
animals, I decided to stay, out of what I thought was respect for them. After the
animal act, the next 3 involved no animals, and was quite intriguing; they were
doing really cool stunts. However, the next act involved a bear, a baby bear. They circus people pulled on the neck chains
of the baby bear, making it let out a grunt. I guess this was too much, half of
the class ended up leaving, and I was one of them. The teachers soon got the
rest of the class out, where we spent a great deal of time playing on a
playground.
CSI
Colour:
Red is a colour of warning, and I feel that the issue
of animal abuse needs to be addressed.
Symbol:
This is a protection, and I believe we need to protect
what is important to us. Fom today, I learnt that the country protects its
past, by keeping all the ancient artifacts. However, I feel that they should
look into the circuses for things like animal abuse. Protect the animals, for
they are part of this world too.
Image:
I feel that I have really learnt a lot from today, be
it the history of the artifacts or the issue about animal abuse. I have also
learnt that just because it isn’t happening in Singapore, doesn’t mean it’s not
happening somewhere else. I have been exposed to many things today, mainly those that we don't see happening in Sinagpore.
28/5 Day 4:
Today, we were finally going to go to the most renowned
place in Anhui: 黄山! We
packed for a one night stay in 黄山, and took a bus to the foot of the mountain, then, we
took a cable car. As I was standing near the operating system (near the door), I
felt that the cable car was really dangerous. The button for opening the door
was just there, without a case or protection over it. Once, someone beside me
almost opened the door as she jerked forward and tried to find something to
hold onto, almost pressing the button. As I held on to my dear life, we soon
reached. After about 20 minutes of walking, we finally reached our hotel. We then
rested for a while before setting out to continue climbing. I had to admit, the
climb was horrendous for me. Since I had flat feet, my feet started aching
about 5 minutes into the climb. Nevertheless, I continued climbing since I have
long heard about the breathtaking view up there. I was really relieved when we finally
reached the peak, and I felt so proud of myself. I felt a sense of
accomplishment, and looking down, I don’t at all regret the tough climb. The
climb is tough, but the view is great.
(黄山)
29/5 Day 5:
Today, we gathered at 4.50am to set off, and to see
the sunrise. The sun was expected to rise at 5.05am, which is why we had to
wake up so early and travel there. It was really difficult to get a good spot
to take a picture of the sunrise, but I had to admit, I was really happy to
have been able to take some decent photos. We were told by our tour guide later
on that we were really lucky to have seen the sunrise, since it was mostly
cloudy there. The view, as always, was great, I do not regret it one bit to
have woken up so early in the morning.
(Sunrise! Unfortunately photo bombed by someone ): )
Later, we had lunch then when down. The cable car down
was designed for 8 people, so a few classmates got on together with me. We waved
to other passing cable cars and were really elated when they saw us or waved back.
Then, we went to visit 宏村, and looked at the well
preserved architecture and buildings. The tour guide explained that the village
was laid out to mimic the parts of a cow/bull. People of the village in the
past were those with the surname of 汪.
Looking around, I realized that what the tour guide
has been saying constantly was true, there were no windows in the houses, only
an opening in the ceiling which the Hui people called a 天井. As the people once believed,
water was money. Therefore, when it rains, the water should enter your own household
like money entering your household. As they said, “肥水不流外人田”.
(天井)
30/5 Day 6:
Today, we went to 西递, another village, similar to 宏村. Unlike 宏村, 西递 had many streams running along
the roads and people utilizing the water. There weren’t huge pools and lakes of
water, but a small flowing stream that seemed to connect everywhere.
We also visited a few other places like the 徽商大宅院, 徽州古城, etc. The places were fairly
similar and all of historical value, therefore we just looked around and let the
tour guide do the explaining. It was quite an exhausting day, visiting so many
places in one day.
That day, we also had a night lecture. A professor
came to explain the cultures, people, food and many other things about Anhui
that we didn’t know of. It was a truly enriching session, even though I feel a
little bad about our unresponsive behavior during the seminar.
We then had a little fun having good old circle time. J
31/5 Day 7:
Today, the day we have all been waiting for finally
came along. Shopping spree! We went to 屯溪老街to shop, and even though we were
only given an hour, I bought quite a lot of things, including tea leaves only
available from 黄山.
Then, we went lake cruising on 西湖, then proceeded to go to the Yue
Fei Mausoleum. There was supposedly a tomb of him, but no one knows for sure. Nonetheless,
this showed how much respect the Chinese had for General Yue Fei.
(西湖)
(General Yue Fei's tomb)
I had so much fun during this OELP I wish I could go
to another soon. Our class has most definitely bonded over the span of seven
days, which is in another way very sad, since we will be in different classes
next year. However, I really enjoyed myself and the time spent with 2E,
exploring everything and everywhere unknown to us. Hopefully, I will get to
experience wonderful things like this trip soon!
Zheng Boya
✋ 5bonacci
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