Wesley's Reflections

Oelp


The trip left me with (alot) souvenirs, memories, and of course, an experience which i will never forget. I learnt many things from the OELP trip.

Yes, the trip has increased my knowledge of China and how it has an impact on Singapore. I have also been more aware of the values and beliefs of people from china. For example, when I was walking through the Ge Garden, I saw that it was heavily influenced by Confuscianism and Buddhism. Following the trip, I can say I am proud to be Singaporean. Why? From my trip in China, I can see that not only me, but many other foreigners have developed a stereotype that China’s citizens are ungracious. For example, my classmates and I saw something which will never happen in Singapore- Parents allowing their child to openly excrete in public, as seen in the DamingTemple. Whenever seeing a photo of somethingungracious , people normally tend to comment ‘Obviously He/She is from China!’ On the other hand, people have an impression of Singaporeans being very civilized and gracious. For example, when conversing online about tourist destinations which are safe, Singapore is the first to come to mind. Healthcare?  Go to Singapore!  Singapore’s healthcare and safety is renowned internationally, and Singapore also has a great reptutationworldwide. How do you know this? For example, rich Indonesian businessmen always come to Singapore for medical treatment, instead of seeking treatment in a Private hospital in Indonesia. Furthermore, Singapore has not only a strong $, but it is also known for being an extremely well developed country. Lastly, I will talk about how the Chinese preserved and promoted their culture, and how Singapore can learn from them in that very aspect.

Or will i? In contrast to the question posed, I will talk about my own perspective, on how China can learn from Singapore about cultural preservation first instead. As shown in visits to the many Rivers and the Daming Temple, China’s economy depends much on tourism. The tourists’ interests in China’s tourist attractions contribute to millions of dollars worth of entrance fees every year, for every attractions. I have noticed for many attractions, there is a sign accompanying the price table. It normally states ‘proceeds from entrance fees and donations will contribute to the preservation and maintenance of this attractions.’  Honestly, will thathappen. The money will probably go into the coffers of a government official. And none of those entrance fees will be used to preserve that attraction. Here’s a living example. Just look how dilapidated the Great Wall of China is. How much work has been put to preserve the attraction? A quick check on Google gives me the following‘ The entrance fee is 85RMB.’ Yes 85 RMB of profit for every visitor who sets foot on this attraction. How much worth of entrance fees can be earned in a year? Yet none of this money is truly spent on the tourist attraction itself. My guess is, the money is used for China’s ever growing Military. On the other hand, for Singapore’s attractions, part of the entrance fees go to organizations like WWF, while the rest is really spent on the attraction itself. The Singapore Zoo is a prime example how Singapore’s system is anti-corrupt compared to China. There was a race organized not long ago to commemorate Ah Meng.  ‘ A portion of the proceeds from the event will go towards the care of endangered animals at the Night Safari and Singapore Zoo.’ See the difference? While people can say that Singapore has not been doing well in cultural preservation and promotion by removing part of Bukit Brown Cemetary, I think we are STILL doing a lot better than our Chinese Counterparts

Alyssa's reflection

OELP trip reflections

Over the span of merely 7 days,  I have learnt a lot about China. I have learnt about her history, culture and heritage. However, I would love to learn more about China's impact on Singapore as I did not learnt much about it during the trip. I have learnt a lot about the people in China, their beliefs and a lot of their values.  I could tell that he people in China believes in preserving their historical sites and their tradition since there were a lot more historical sites in China than in Singapore and through this, younger generations might learn to appreciate the things they have. In the past, they did not have printers, pens, pencil, correction tape or liquids, not even an eraser, so they had to use olden writing brushes and printing methods to records things. When using these methods, one mistake will cause you to repeat doing or writing everything again as u will not be able to correct the mistake using erasers or correctness tapes. This also shows that the people in China are very patient and are willing to learn. When I saw the lady in the museum writing, I was amaze at how neat and nice her writing was. She was also very careful as she did not even make a single mistake. I am sure that it takes a lot of practice so as to write like the words were printed out and I admire the amount of effort they put in and the amount of patience they had.  Also, I think that the people in China are very optimistic. When a lightning struck a tree, splitting it into two, they used a part of it to grow up another crop on it. It is also said that the crop meant that everything will be alright. Even though that part of the tree was dead, the locals gave another plant to grow with the help of its trunk. This shows that the locals do not give up easily and also as the saying goes 'every cloud has a silver lining', they took the opportunity to make the best put of it. I thinks it was rather creative for them to do so as I think no one would have thought of doing the same in Singapore, partly because we do not have enough space.

I am proud to be a Singaporean as Singapore is one of the safest countries and the government does its best to give everyone in Singapore a good life. We have financial assistance schemes to help those in financial difficulties a helping hand as much as possible and  we have advance technologies in our hospitals with doctors specializing in different aspects of health so as to provide a better treatment for those in Singapore.

The exterior of some buildings were left as they were, keeping the olden design and patterns while the inside were turned into cafes and other stores. They were also museums on China's history and culture, promoting them to the public. I think that Singapore should have more shops with both interior and exterior designs like those in the past however with modern shops occupying them. Also, involving different cultures an traditions in our everyday learning so we do not only learn about Chinese culture but also cultures of those around us nice Singapore is a multi-racial country.  

Clarissa's Reflections

OELP Reflection

       The 7-days OELP trip to Shanghai and Yangzhou had left me with many wonderful memories with my classmates. At the same time, I had also learned many things from this experience.

       When I first arrived in Shanghai on the first day, the first thing that was processed into my brain was all the tall buildings and skyscrapers. From that, I was able to see that Shanghai is a modern city. The infrastructures at the Bund left me awestruck. On one side of the HuangPu River were all the western-style architectures. I was able to see that some of the buildings actually have different style, but after doing some research on the internet, I found out that the architectures had many different styles such as Roman (10th-mid 12th century), Baroque (1600-1750) and Classical (1750-1820). I was very impressed that all those buildings that have so many different architectural styles can actually exist at the same time and at the same place and still look so beautiful.

      On the other side of the HuangPu River are the skyscrapers which are more modern. The Oriental TV Tower as well as several international banks or company buildings were located there. This gives a strong contrast between modern life and the past and I also realised that this was a way that China had used to preserve and promote their history and culture. I think Singapore can also try to learn from China by preserving some of the old architectures in Singapore. But again, Singapore is a small country; there might not be enough land for people to live on if several sites were really preserved.

        After spending 1-2 days in Shanghai, we headed to Yangzhou. Compared to Shanghai, Yangzhou was more of a cultural city and the pace of life there is more relaxed. Locals were not in much of a rush and there were fewer vehicles on the road compared to Shanghai.

         The most memorable experience I had in Yangzhou was probably the school visit to 扬大附中东部分校初中学部. I had a great time interacting with the students there and I definitely learned more about the culture and education system in China. At the school, we were also given opportunities to go through lessons that are not commonly found in the Singapore education curriculum. We went through several Arts and Crafts sessions, a Chinese Classical Music Appreciation class and the Dumpling-Making Competition! All these lessons were unique and very enjoyable. I felt like I was able to understand a lot more about China’s culture and traditions during the school visit as my buddy would explain very thoroughly about the tourist sites and also the several traditions for the Dragon Boat Festival. Hopefully, I would still get a chance to see them in the future.

Lunch at the school!

         Besides the school exchange, I also really liked the industrial visit to Volkswagen and the visit to Geyuan Garden.

         At first, I didn’t really know that we would be going to Volkswagen. I thought it was really cool because I was able to witness the procedure of car-making. Moreover, there were many motivational sayings on the banners which hanged from the ceilings, and I remembered one even said “用户就是我们的衣食父母” I was really impressed as this shows how important the customers are to them and how they really put in their best effort to satisfy the customers’ needs.

Pictures time while touring Volkswagen!

         I thought that the Geyuan Garden was absolutely beautiful. There were many different types of bamboo there and what I liked the most about the garden was the Four Seasons Rocks. Even though I did not examine the rocks very carefully, I feel that there’s something different among the four different sets of rocks. That really amazed me because I never knew that rocks could be very different from one another.

         Another thing that I really enjoyed from this OELP was the bullet train from Zhenjiang back to Shanghai. It moved at an insanely fast speed; when I looked out the windows, I see the buildings just whizzing by. It was only then did I understand that the bullet train was moving at a super fast speed. That reminded me of the time when I took the Eurostar with my family from Paris to London. The train ride only took 2 hours and it also moved at a flying speed. On the bullet train, it was not very noisy and I was able to get some rest and take some time to think about the trip in general. As I was on the bullet train, I could not believe that in just a matter of hours, I would be back in Singapore. It felt like it had just been yesterday that I arrived in Shanghai. Time flew by really fast and this trip made me appreciate Singapore and everything I have back home. Even though it felt great to have some independence on the trip, I had definitely missed my parents. I was sad to leave so soon, but I was also glad because I would finally be heading back to Singapore, my home. I left for OELP thinking that I would be learning about China’s traditions, culture and history, but what I was surprised about, was the fact that I was also given a lesson on Appreciation. After the trip, I started to appreciate my family, my classmates and friends, and lastly Singapore. Although I had a fun time in China, there were several facilities and things that were better in Singapore.  

      In conclusion, this OELP trip to Shanghai and Yangzhou with class 2G’14 definitely taught me a lot of things.

Clarissa Neo (8)

Trip Advisor Part 3

French Concession (Shanghai)

The French Concession 法租界 was very peaceful and quiet when we visited. It was very different from what I had been expecting. Since it was a tourist attraction, I thought there would be more people there. However, there were only a handful of tourists. The buildings looked really old and there were several western shops and cafes. The architecture of the buildings, the stony pathway and the peacefulness made me feel like I wasn't in China but rather in an old European city. I enjoyed that place thoroughly and hoped that if I happen to be in Shanghai again, I would be able to spend a quiet afternoon by myself over there; taking pictures or just having a cup of coffee.

Rating: 5/5

Trip Advisor Part 4

冶春茶社早餐

This was the place where we ate our first Yangzhou breakfast. We were shocked by the amount of food we had on the table. It was literally lunch, except there were more buns and dim sum. The dishes served at the teahouse include cow's intestine, mushroom, cold meat, buns, dumplings and other type of dishes. The favour of the dishes were rather strong and oily.

A huge soup bun was serve on a late with a straw given to us. Because it was so huge and mostly filled with soup only, we had to use the straw to poke into the bun and drink the soup first before eating.The gravy in the bun is quite oily but fragant. If you did not drink finish all the gravy before eating the bun, it will burn your tongue.

While eating the breakfast most have in Yangzhou, we found out that Yangzhou people have a heavier breakfast because they only eat two meals a day.  There were many other buns and dishes that were delicious. A lot of us couldn't finish all the food on our table. That first breakfast in Yangzhou was definitely a filling one! This experience was a good one because we rarely ate such a full breakfast and enjoyed the delicacies in Yangzhou while understanding part of their daily live.

Rating: 4/5

The delicious soup bun XD 

-Alyssa 

Trip Advisor Part 2

Hai Di Lao

This restaurant is legendary in Shanghai, for several reasons in addition to the excellent food quality. Very good hotpot, with a great selection of sauces and condiments that you can get yourself and make your own concoctions. 

What's great about these restaurants is the service. When we sat down, they put any mobile phones we placed on the table into plastic bags. Those of us wearing eyeglasses were given glass wipes. When I placed my jacked on the back of my chair, they placed a satin cover over it. 

I've been told that the owner who started this chain has gone out of the way to provide this over the top service. Even if you wait for a table, you are given drinks, game to play with, or even do your nails and other entertainment.

Always fun, always good, and reasonably priced.

1. The staff are extremely cheerful, and helpful, nothing is too much for them.

2. Although the restaurant is usually full, people enjoy the pleasures of the waiting area, snacks are provided to those waiting, also various games are played, ladies are offerred a free manicure. In our group several ladies paused thier meal and returned to the waiting area for a manicure and to have thier nails painted.

3. The ambiance is amazing, really a lively warm welcoming atmosphere where everyone feels at home.

4. Prices are extremely reasonable.

5. Adequate car parking, free of charge for up to two hours, we always overstay.

6. Noodles are hand made at the table, this is in fact a form of entertainment.

7. Unlike most hotpot restaurants, the restaurant has an English menu card. I was given a copy to take home.

We consider Hai di Lao as much more that a place to eat, It is also an attraction!

Rating: 5/5

Customers getting a nail treatment! 

Chinese Paper Cutting Museum

Paper-cutting Museum is near the East Gate Street（东关街） A variety of arts and crafts masterpieces are being displayed inside the museum , everyone's hands were cutting pattern and have its own characteristics, but they are interesting and very detailed, pretty pretty!! We got to try out the paper cutting and we realised that it was really hard to cut nicely and perfectly as the shapes were so small and detailed. Hence, it was easy for us to cut wrongly. After the cutting, they told us that we are allowed to bring the 3badao scissors home and the rest of the paper cutting. Although there are very few people or tourists there,it was still very exciting and we learnt many things. 

They also have a souvenir shop where they sell many pretty stuffs like the Chinese paper fan with many different types of pattern. They also sell bookmarks, books, paper cutting in a frame and many other things.

Some of the paper cuttings that we saw at the museum ^^

One of the fan designs we bought at the souvenir shop at the museum :))

Written by: Isabelle 

Trip Advisor Part 1

Location: Daming Temple

           This temple is extremely large. However, it does not seem to be maintained well. Plants are withering all over the temple. Next, the temple requires both an entrance fee, and a fee which is needed to be paid, if you wish to visit the pagoda, which is clearly the main attraction of the temple. Worth a visit if you want to know more about the history of China. There is a souvenir shop in the temple, and many washrooms are situated around the temple. However, the washrooms all stink, and are clearly only cleaned once a blue moon.

Location: Shouxi Lake (Slender West Lake)
 Decent, But Crowded     
Fantastic scenery, making this a must-go whenever you visit Yangzhou. However, the serene atmosphere was ruined by the loud chattering of mainlanders and locals. Would be better to visit on a weekday.

Rating: 4/5

Location: Former Residence of Zhu Ziqing
The house was rather small, and it would be hard to explore around if there are many visitors. You can learn a lot about Zhu Ziqing's background and view some of his famous work. Due to the small area and the surrounding walls, it can feel stuffy and hot most of the time

Rating: 3/5

Location: Geyuan

There is a variety of Bamboos all over the garden. There is also many artificial rocks, which i heard was taken from another province in China by a wealthy man, There is also a mini lake in this Garden. There is an endless maze of seemingly alike rooms of the wealthy family in the garden, coupled with antique furniture. At first, it might seem interesting, but you will find it hard to take any more meaningful photos after awhile as many of the bamboos looked the same. Washrooms are also scarce. Nevertheless, certain sceneries in the Geyuan still looks beautiful.

Rating:3/5