Trip Advisory

Post Trip Assignment : Trip Advisor

Day One

Hotel: Rayfont Hotel

Rating : 2/5

Critique: The room is well kept and quite neat. However, there were too many mirrors and it was a bit too scary for us. Not to mention the bugs in the room. Some of the faucets in the hotel rooms seem to be not working. That brought some discomfort to is as we needed to shower and wash our hands etc. 

High Speed Rail

Rating : 4.5/5

Critique: The train was awesome! Comfortable seats and very spacious. The air ventilation was also quite fine. Apart from that, it wasn't very noisy throughout the ride and it was fast too! We enjoyed the ride, although it was uncomfortable to stay seated for so long. But most of us we slept through the ride. Surprisingly, there were indeed toilets on the train, but perhaps not as well-kept as the toilets in Singapore.

三河古镇

Rating : 3/5

Critique: There are places where we can learn about the old China, but overall it was quite boring. We noticed that the buildings and shops around the area were quite rundown, probably due to its long heritage. Although it was quite boring, we did manage to learn more about china. We also noticed that the rivers were dried up and had a lot of rubbish. We understand that the government did not renovate the buildings to keep its old look, but they should probably clean up the river, since it is heavily polluted by rubbish, and not a nice sight to see.

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Day Two

Hefei No. 45 school

Rating: 4/5

Critique: although the first impression of the school we had was that it was old and rundown, the warmhearted students of the school made up for it. The school was definitely lacking in facilities and the toilets were just horrible. The toilet cubicles did not have a door, and the stench was awful, especially when the classroom is right next to the toilets. But the china students did not seem to be affected by this. They were used to it, and were proactive in class, and had an eagerness to learn, despite the poor facilities they were given. The students were very nice, and the performance put up by them was definitely better than ours, as we did not really plan a performance. We had sung let it go, frozen. Although we did not sing very loud, as were shy, they still cheered for us. They also brought us to their homes, and we exchanged gifts at the end of it. All in all, the experience at the school was great.

Day Three

Anhui Musuem

Rating: 4/5

Critique: The artefacts were interesting and also well kept. There is also information about theses artefacts and models of the architectures. The best thing for us was probably the air conditioner placed throughout the museum, since it was quite hot outside that day. The models of palaces of old china and the 鼎 were two of the things that left a deep impression on us. The models were sculpted intricately, and the 鼎 was huge, supported by only three "legs".

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Park

Rating: 1/5 (shows), 5/5 (playground)

Critique: We were quite disturbed by the shows that used animals as "props" and left the performance before it actually ended. The horrible treatment that the animals received shocked us. Some of us cried, feeling sad for the animals abused by the circus staff. Many had blamed the circus staff for doing physical harm to these animals. But we did, later on, realised that some of the circus staff had no choice but to take this job to survive. So we turned to despise the act, not the person. However, it was quite fun to spent time in the playground afterwards, forgetting about the circus show earlier on. There were activities that we could do, like rock climbing, balancing on a rod etc.

Day Four

Hotel: Holiday Inn Express Hefei South

Rating: 4.5/5

Critique: We were able to have access to the internet with the hotel's free wifi. It was quite fast too, one of the factors that made us like this hotel. Also, there were not many bugs. However, the downside is that the bathrooms in the hotel rooms had a translucent door. you could see the shadows of the people inside the bathroom. It brought us some discomfort, but overall, this hotel was not bad.

黄山

Rating: 4/5

Critique: Tiring throughout the climb but the scene at the peak was very magnificent. We did met with many challenges while climbing. The flights of stairs seemed endless. And at times when we climbed rocks to get a better view of the scenery, it was slippery and dangerous. As we climbed higher, there were more bugs. These bugs seemed to be able to survive well on high altitudes. Warning:Lots of bugs.

Day Five

Hotel: BeiHai Hotel

Rating: 3/5

Critique: It is a nice hotel that has neat and well kept rooms. The hotel also has a minimart. The potato chip packets sold at the minimart was bloated due to the air pressure up one 黄山. However, again, TOO MANY BUGS!!! We can understand because it is in 黄山. Moths and bugs could be spotted in the bathrooms of the hotel rooms, but the hotel room was quite comfortable despite that. 

宏村 HongCun

Rating: 4/5

Critique: Preservation of China's culture at its finest. We could clear see the the past architecture that was well preserved, some of the intricate and detailed carvings can still be seen and are not scratched or destroyed. As we walk down the paths, you can see many drains near the houses, which were meant to ease the villagers' burden of having to collect water every now and then. Water is instead sent right in front of their houses, and they can do laundry there too. The old schools also provides us an insight of how the Chinese in the past received their education. The village is truly worthy of its title of being a World Heritage Site!

Day Six

Jinling Yixian Hotel

Rating: 4/5 

Critique: One of the better hotels we had stayed throughout the trip. The room was well kept, and fortunately, there were no insects in the room this time. The toilets were also quite clean and overall, nothing to big to fuss about.

西递 Xidi

Rating: 4/5

Critique: A village that is similar to HongCun, but it has a significant architecture that  HongCun, which are the archways. Each archway is build with a different meaning, a different background, a different story. Apart from that, the village has a beautiful garden full of plants. There were butterflies, caterpillars and such, and it is a beautiful view to be seen. The ponds were quite murky and dirty, though. Also, a humorous signboard that was not meant for humour, but for safety purposes. (A direct translation of "Be careful not to fall into the pond" from Chinese to English. It ended up becoming "Please careful fall into pond").

Day Seven

RongDing Hotel

Rating: 3/5 

Critique: Firstly, some bathrooms are see through! It took us a while to figure out how the blinds can actually cover the bathroom so that it would not be able to be seen through the outside. Some of the rooms were behind the exit door, which was quite scary, and there were no telephones in those rooms, which may leave the people uncontactable if something happens.

船游西湖

Rating: 4/5

Critique: We sat on a boat for about 20 minutes. Apart from visiting Huang Shan, this is also another part that I like a lot in this trip. All of us get to relax and enjoy the cool breeze while sitting comfortably on the boat, enjoying the scenery. As the boat moves very slowly, it is very stable, so no one is scared.

Yue Fei Mausoleum

Rating: 4/5

Critique: For those who crave learning China's past and the heroes, this would be a great place for you to go. Yue Fei was a military general during the Southern Song Dynasty, and widely regarded as China's national folk hero. Though there is still much debate on whether Yue Fei's body is actually in the tomb that was dedicated to him, we can still learn about the past of China, and also, its great heroes.