亲爱的日记

Hey people, Xuchen here :))) As you might have known, I went with my class for a visit to Shanghai and Suzhou for the OELP programme.The programme was to last for 8 days and through these few days, we visited museums, attended lectures, participated in school exchange programmes, and engaged in various recreational activities such as watching acrobatics show and shopping.    Although I could participate in last 4 days of the programme due to some personal issue ( ;__; ), I was still able to gain more knowledge about China and current affairs which I could never experience from normal lessons. I had also thoroughly enjoyed myself by spending time together with my friends and eating various Chinese delicacies through these 4 days (yayz). The trip to China was indeed enjoyable and extremely fruitful. I joined the class halfway through the visiting of the Suzhou Museum.  Through listening to the tour guide, I learned about the rich history and culture of Suzhou, and also see the numerous amazing artifacts from a long time ago. The artifacts were extremely well preserved, and the information of the artifacts was well kept, it was as if we were walking down the memory lane of Suzhou’s rapid progress. The museum even had gardens and ponds with various plants and fishes for relaxation. What I learned about the museum is that it is completely free of charge during special occasions like Children’s Day and National Day. This is to attract people to visit the museum and learn about the past of their homeland. I feel this is an effective way of instilling the value of national pride into the people. I’m not sure about the National Museum of Singapore, but maybe Singapore can learn from the Suzhou Museum, to open up more opportunities to citizens to learn about the past of the country, which would allow them to love, and be proud of their country. The next half of the trip was spent in Shanghai. Through the stay in Shanghai, we visited numerous sites to learn about not only the past of Shanghai, but also the present development of Shanghai and China. We learn about Shanghai’s rich history through the lecture in Shanghai Jiaotong University.  The lecture covers the entire history in detail, and also mentioned briefly about French Concession and Lu Xun’s connection with Shanghai.  After that, the visit to Xintiandi Shikumen Museum/French Concession and Lu Xun Memorial Hall allow us to experience these historical sites in person and understand what we had heard from the lecture better.  The most valuable thing I had learnt from these visits is the process of how Shanghai became one of the biggest cities in China. I learn that after China lost the Opium Wars to foreigners, she was forced to sign the Nanking Treaty, which includes opening up part of Shanghai to the French, which would be known as the French Concession. The architecture the Frenchmen left behind are preserved and was named the Xintiandi Shikumen Museum. Because of the Nanking Treaty, Shanghai was one of the first few cities to be opened up to foreigners, and hence it was a step ahead of other parts of China to modernize. Apart from that, Shanghai was able to transform from a rural land to a port city because of its superior geographical location. A huge part of Shanghai is located by the sea, hence causing Shanghai to be a necessary place to pass by for foreign cargo ships, this allows Shanghai to develop into how she is today, all these factors are very much alike to that of Singapore’s. And because of Shanghai’s status, it became one of China’s largest financial zone, hence China invested large sum of money to develop Shanghai’s transportation, science and technology, education, industry, culture, shipping and finance. We had also visited many tourist attractions which showed us how powerful Shanghai is in terms of finance and culture, namely the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall and  Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone which includes the Oriental Pearl’s TV Tower and Shanghai Bund.  From these tourist attractions, we can actually see how developed Shanghai is currently. From the Urban Planning Exhibition, I saw many models of the city of Shanghai, and also enlarged models of many significant infrastructures. I realized that Shanghai is actually as populated as Singapore, with sky scrapping buildings all over the city; it was hard to miss the extremely tall building clusters in the middle of Shanghai, the Lujiazui which we will be visiting. From the tour guide, I had learnt that Shanghai has 13 train tracks, and will be increase to 22 by 2020 with extensions on numerous tracks, there are also 5 bridges connecting the 2 halves of Shanghai, Pudong and Puxi, with well-maintained and plotted roads sprawling across the map. What is most significant to me is that Shanghai actually has 2 airports, the Hongqiao airport and the Pudong airport (which we alighted at). All these showed that Shanghai focus greatly on convenience of transport, which make sense when she has a population of 25 million. Singapore’s transportation is also rather developed, but maybe we can learn from Shanghai about how the trains there don’t break down, and how flyover roads are built to reduce traffic congestion. Later on we visited numerous sites in Lujiazui, the most significant district in Shanghai. Lujiazui is a port by the Huangpu River, which is very similar to Singapore River’s port. Lujiazui is also a very popular tourist attraction with some of the most significant places in China, we were lucky enough to visit the Oriental Pearl Tower, where we spent some time at the 263 meter high Sky Walk where we can see the entire Lujiazui under our feet, and also the Shanghai Bund where the view of the Shanghai skyline is the best. After seeing all these wonderful tourist attractions spots, it made me wonder: since Singapore River is so similar to Lujiazui geographically, is our own port as good as Shanghai’s?  What I heard is that Shanghai’s port is actually better equipped and has more cargo ships docked than Singapore. Furthermore, I personally feel that the tourist attractions at Lujiazui are far more interesting than what we have at Singapore River. I think Singapore really must learn from Shanghai, about how they plan the city, what buildings they choose to build, what areas they choose to invest in. Even though we are currently richer than China in terms of GDP per capita and we are overall more developed, China is actually catching up fast, and one day may even overtake us, hence, we must learn how they can progress so fast, and adapt part of their measures into our plans. the super awesome Sky Walk of the Pearl Towel oops weird pose :x Of course, OELP isn’t just about learning, it’s also about enjoying ourselves (while learning at the same time). Through the trip, we visited some of the most popular shopping districts in Suzhou and Shanghai: the Shantang Street, Nanjing Road and Chenghuangmiao.  The first shopping street we visited was the Shantang Streets of Suzhou. The tour guide told us that the street is location by the banks of a river, and it was originally a trading center for settlers to trade their good. As China modernizes, the street was made open to public, and became a main tourist attraction in Suzhou. And in Shanghai, we visited the mirror image of Shantang Street, the Chenghuangmiao. The amount of crowd in these streets was rivalling that of Orchard Road. In the shops, attractive souvenirs native to China can be bought at extremely low price, there were traditional Chinese fan, Chinese knot, Chinese toy figuring, Chinese pipes and many more. All these things came about from China’s rich and dramatic history and culture. After the short shopping spree, I was armed with bags and bags of little goodies, some for myself and some as souvenirs to give to friends and families. To compare the Shantang Street and Chenghuangmiao to Orchard Road, I personally feel that the these old shopping streets would be a far more attractive shipping district due to the unbelievably low price and the traditional Chinese flavor of the items sold, whereas Orchard Road offers expensive branded goods from all over the world which may be a bit costly even to the rich tourists, and the things sold would not be as attractive because after all, tourists came to Singapore to buy things uniquely Singaporean, and not some worldwide popular brand. Maybe one day Singapore can open up a permanent pasar malam with all the traditional Singaporean things sold at cheap cost, that would be a must to visit for all tourists. However, Shanghai does have a shopping district which is extremely similar to Orchard Road, in a sense that this street also has numerous shopping centers department stores selling branded things from all over the world, and also food native, and foreign to Shanghai. The pricing for brands like Nike, Adidas, Li Ning, and Paul Frank is extremely exaggerating, so in the end all we bought was food from a nearby convenient store, just like what I would do at Orchard Road, except that even the food in Orchard Road is expensive. We also had the highlight of our trip: the acrobatics show from a renowned acrobatics group. The performance was highly entertaining, with extremely tensed moments and incredible stunts. Acrobatics is something I can never see in Singapore because we don’t have a stage made especially for a single performance but there in Shanghai, there was this huge hall with the stage design just to make the performance flow smoothly. It was indeed an unforgettable event. After the trip to Shanghai and Suzhou, I realize I still have a lot to learn about China past, present and future. The trip was a real eye opener and through this journey, I can also see how these can be relevant to Singapore, or even ourselves. After the trip, I really want to visit the more undeveloped areas in China to see the living standard and finance of China as a whole and not just the most developed city, because from what I have learnt, Shanghai does not represent the entire China where everything is glorious and grand, there are places haunted by poverty and illness and I want to see and experience these places and learn what the Chinese government is doing to help these people.  It is then that I realised, everything is subjective and whatever we see will have a different side to it if we just see it from another perspective. What we see isn't really what things are, but what we interpreted as. Hey, that sounds like a dice! When we look at a dice from one face, it doesn't mean that every other face will look the same. If you flip it around, it's a whole new look very very different from what we saw! ~The Fabulous Xuchen

Places to go (or not to go) in China!

  We had a super fun trip in China this June holiday. We were in Suzhou and Shanghai from 27th May to 4th June. This 8 days journey left us with some of the happiest and craziest memories. The trip includes attending lecture, having school immersion, going on shopping sprees, seeing exhibitions, sightseeing, having delicious meals in high class restaurant and many more. It was an awesome trip, there were some awesome places and some not-so-awesome places. Now, let us share with you some of the places you 100%, guarantee, no doubt, have to visit when you're in China, and some places you shouldn't consider in your checklist.

  

SUZHOU 苏州

No. 1 Silk Factory in Suzhou 苏州第一丝绸厂

Type: Exhibition

Coming very very soon...

 

SHANGHAI 上海

Shanghai Yitel Hotel 上海徐家汇八万人体育和颐酒店

Type: Hotel

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Comments:

  Yitel was the hotel that we stayed at during our stay at Shanghai. As the total number of people who went was an odd number, my room was the only room where 3 people had to cram in it. However, the size of the room was the same as the rest, and as an extra bed had to be fit into our already small room, we barely had space to walk to the end of the room and had to squeeze to make our way there. Yitel is suitable and comfortable for a two people stay, however, if 3 people are going, I strongly reccommend you to not be cheapskate and think you can squeeze into a 2 people's room. You are just making your life miserable by doing so. :c The bathroom was nice in the sense that it looks clean. However, theres a bad thing about it. The light works by sensor. Whats so bad about that? It saves energy, right? WRONG. It gets so annoying that I actually wanted to use a torchlight when I showered. Dont you find it annoying that when you're halfway through showering then the light suddenly turns off? It surely is annoying. Also, there was this glass panel at the area where we showered that was covered by blinds, but despite pulling the blinds to the end already, from the outside some part of you still can be seen. It was horrible. Terribly traumatising especially since we stayed with our classmates. However, some things that i really liked about the hotel was that the basic toiletries such as toothbrush and toothpaste were provided. Generally, I still enjoyed my stay there pretty much because what we needed was given and the service of the people there is good. I hope this was helpful to you, see ya soon. <3

xoxo,

Ling Bo.

Haidilao 海底捞

Type: Restaurant

Ratings:

The HaiDiLao at Shanghai is a famous steamboat restaurant. The food there is mouthwatering and filling. The food was more blend, unlike the other restaurants who had a stronger taste. There were a wide range of food to choose from, from vegetable to meat to mushrooms etc. There was also a booth to get free flow watermelon and honeydew. Also, there were a wide variety of sauces for us to choose and mix from. While waiting for our food and soup to be served, we were given complimentary snacks and drinks, which could be refilled as well. Other than the food, the service there is good as well. The staffs wore smiles on their faces and listen patiently to what we needed. Hot towels were provided while waiting for the food. While eating, the chef displayed his culinary skills by rubbing and pulling noodles in front of us. Many of us were amazed by how the noodles would not break no matter how thin it was stretched of how high it was thrown into the air. However, the soup was overly blend and we had to add salt on our own. My overall rating is a 4.5 and i would definitely visit again if i have the chance. I would also recommend  it to my friends and relative because i feel that its a DIE DIE MUST TRY in China.

Done by: Loo Yan Hui

Nanjing Road 南京路

Type: Shopping District

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  Nanjing is sure a must-go place when you visit Shanghai. As you might have already heard, yes the clothes there are more expensive then what we have here in Singapore. AND THAT IS REALLY BAD. cries. But anyways, if you decided to visit there still, go for the food. Yes, there are plenty of food of different variations. There is even this food paradise. It's like a shopping mall selling only FOOD. How great is that, right? Like ohmygard I can't even. Xuchen really enjoyed his 羊肉串 when I enjoyed an ice-cream. There are food ranging from dried food packed in vacuum bags to freshly prepared and grilled stuffs. Enough about food, if you're wondering about the clothes there, let me tell you more. We went into many different shops and explored the prices. phew.. no joke. D: the prices ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand rmb even. How can we students afford that? We just ended up getting food, and food, and food. In a nutshell, if you're not planning on spending lots of money at Nanjing Road, I don't recommend you to shop for clothes. JUST GO FOR FOOD LIKE YEY FOOD IS AWESOME. I guess that's about it from me.

Toodles!

Ling Bo.

Shanghai World Expo 世博纪念展
Type: Exhibition
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  We went to the World Expo early in the morning, expecting a mile-long queue, but we were proved wrong upon reaching. There was not a single visitor in sight at the gate, and the decoration of the entrance was not as grand as predicted. I we hadn't been told beforehand, we would think we're sightseeing at a factory. Inside the Expo, the visitors besides us are rare sights. We couldn't get a tour guide at first, so the first half an hour of our time was spent loitering around on the 1st floor of the 3 story museum. And then our teacher came telling us they found us a tour guide. Thinking we could learn more about the museum, we went to the guide and started the tour. Man, we were so wrong. The tour guide dragged and pulled us around like the museum was on fire and he had to run but we're slowing him down. He briefly, very very briefly rattled about selected exhibitions in volume and pace not meant for human ears. So basically, he ushered us to a location, murmured facts he seemed to have read for the 1001th time, and them rushed to another exhibition and ushered us to go to him, rinse, repeat. And then when we finished exploring the second floor, the tour guide saw his colleague and talk to him in alienish Chinese, then he turned to us and told us to explore the rest of the Expo by ourselves and walked of. And so I realized that I've wasted my time walking around and glancing at mysterious exhibitions while learning nothing. But I have to say, the free and easy part of our visit was at least better. We saw extremely weird and creepy things like this 5 meter tall sculpture of a baby that totally looked like the enlarged version of a doll in horror movies. And then there's this hall where there's compartments containing exotic costumes. The light would dim and black out from time to time and when it turned back on again we would see a different costume, we later realize this is a gimmick played using multiple mirror and lights shining at different angle. That's about all for the visit. We saw a few cool stuff, but then, since the tour guide is so helpful in educating us, we didn't learn much from the trip.

~ Xuchen :D


Chenghuangmiao 城隍庙
Type: Shopping District

Rating:

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  Chenghuangmiao was to be our last chance for our shopping spree. Contrary to what the name suggest, Chenghuangmiao wasn't really a temple, or at least not only a temple. Chenghuangmiao is a part of a huge shopping district, selling many many traditional Chinese handicrafts, food and specialties. Many of the thing we saw here was unique to China and was never seen before. There were numerous stalls selling little hand-made art pieces like glass figurines of animals, Chinese knots, traditional fans, chinese instruments and many more. The food there was also very special and most not found in Singapore. They generally taste good, a little unhealthy but still quite safe. But, you should think twice before buying fried food, the stall could have used the oil for the billionth time, and when you eat the things cooked in these oil, the after taste tasted like petrol, literally. My favorite shop in Chenghuangmiao is this franchise store selling everything panda. There were panda watches, panda caps, panda key chains, panda luggage tags etc. If you love panda as much as me, this would be heaven to you. By the end of the trip, I was carrying bags and bags of native good and souvenirs. Chenghuangmiao is honestly one of the best shopping street in Shanghai.

~Xuchen :]

Shanghai Acrobatics Show 上海杂技表演–时光转流

Type: Show

Rating:

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The acrobatics show in Shanghai was truly a beautiful piece of art produced by many years of experience. The show had different elements, the tough, the gentle, the stunning ones... The  lights and music promoted the suspense and thrills in the performance. The performance included balancing a huge vase on your head and stuns involving that. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be for the performers?4 people jumping through rings at once, using a cloth to hold the weight of 2people.....The performances were breath taking and impressed everyone. The performance i liked most was the one with 5 motorcycles spinning in the ball cage.  It takes just one mistake for all of them to get a severe injury. Although I really liked the performances, most of the performances could be predicted at the start since there were people on variety shows who could do the same thing. However, the lights and music brought out the atmosphere and kept all the audiences' eyes glued to the performers, anticipating their next performance. Other than the great effort by the performers, the backstage helpers also did a wonderful job! The acrobatics show in Shanghai was impressive and memorable. It was definitely worth the time but i would not want to go again if i visit Shanghai again, since we might have to pay a sum of money to watch something you can watch on TV. However, i would recommend it to my friends from other classes if they visit Shanghai because of the atmosphere that could not be gotten from watching on TV.

Done by: Loo Yan Hui

Shanghai Bund 上海滩

Type: Scenery Spot 

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The Bund is a famous waterfront and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. It is on the west bank of Huangpu River from the Waibaidu Bridge to Nanpu Bridge and winds 1500 meters (0.93 mile) in length. The most famous and attractive sight which is at the west side of the Bund are the 26 various buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance. The 1,700-meters (1,859 yards) long flood-control wall, known as 'the lovers' wall', located on the side of Huangpu River from Huangpu Park to Xinkai River and once was the most romantic corner in Shanghai in the last century. After renovation, the monotone concrete buildings that lovers leaned against in the past have been improved into hollowed-out railings full of romantic atmosphere. Standing by the railings, visitors can have a 'snap-shot' view of the scenery of Pudong Area and Huangpu River. 

These are just descriptions. The view is breathtaking as described, a nice place to take selfies, to take all types of creative pictures. If you happen to be able to book a hotel nearby, going to the bund at night would be worth it to see the florid night view of the Bund. Under the tenet of keeping harmony and unity, the use of period lamp-posts is in keeping with the aesthetic feeling of the building structures. It fully exhibits the magnificence of the various buildings of different architectural styles and make up of the best night scene of Shanghai together with the colorful lights floating in the river and the flashing lights on the far side of the river. The night piece of the Bund was named in 'Shanghai top ten night light views' in 2009.

It would be nice if you jog there as well. Between every certain distance, there is a shop that sells drinks, and a shop to take picture, and a booth to buy souvenirs. Personally, my group and my class and of course myself had a lot of fun there, taking all different types of pictures with creative poses. It really left a great impact on me as it was also the last scenic place we went before going to Chenghuangmiao. (i likeu scenic places. They make very nice photos. ._. Though i wished i had a DSLR with me back then. TT.TT)


Done by: Iris aka Ris Ris RISSSS

China: Her Glorious & Dramatic History

The "Bird Nest"

Beijing National Stadium

  The Beijing National Stadium, located in the heart of Beijing, is one of the most famous sports buildings in the world. The stadium is called the Bird's Nest due to its unique architectural characteristic. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. 

  The Bird's Nest also represented China's modernization, after years of lagging behind the other countries due to sino-centrism. It was then that China finally, standing equally between the rest, shows how they had reached their pace. This is how the Bird's Nest meant something special to the Chinese. It reminds them of the history, when China still regard themselves as the superior while times had changed China into a modern country everyone knows today. 

  Like humans, buildings have life. The Bird's Nest stands apart from any other stadium as a one of a kind structure unique in its design and social significance. The Bird's Nest will forever be a piece of Beijing's history and Chinese culture. Explore the creation of this magnificent structure from the beginning stages through the construction and completion. You'll hear from the designers, architects and welders who each played a part. The construction for this AWESOME building started in 2003, but came to a halt due to spiraling costs. Consequently, the project organizers were forced to change their original plans and leave out the stadium's roof. However, according to experts, that decision actually helped to make the building more secure against earthquakes. A blessing in disguise indeed:))

The 13,170miles-long Wall

A segment of the Great Wall of China

  As one of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China has become the symbol of the Chinese nation and its culture. Lots of stories at the Great Wall of China took place along the construction. One includes the story of 孟姜女哭长城。

This story indictates that the wall is a production of tens of thousands of Chinese commoners. 

Unification of China

  The Great Wall is a powerful symbol. It represents the unification of China, because it was linked together as China was unified for the first time in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). It represents the awesome ability of the Chinese to work together for the good of the country.

Separation of a Nation

  While it represents unity on the China side the Great Wall represents separation from the rest of the world on the other, along with the lengths a nation will go to to preserve their culture and keep invaders out.

  The Great Wall of China was built by thousands of people working closely together. The ability of the Chinese to work together for the good of the country is not an easy task. We should learn how to work together like them, so that our country, too, will be one that unites together well. Another great learning point is from the separation of the nation. In the past, China was Sino-centric and thought that they were always the superior one. As a result, they lost wars due to the low technology of weapons that they had which built a weak military force. If they had not been so sino-centric, none of these would have happened. Hence, we should always not take things for granted and must be humble, for what we have will not always be. To do that, we must listen from the opinion of others and change accordingly. Same for the country, accept the flaws and change it!

The First President of China

Yuan Shikai, an influential figure in the 1911 revolution

  Yuan Shikai (16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese general, politician and emperor during the times of the 1911 revolution. The revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and established the Republic of China. The revolution was named Xinhai because it occurred in 1911, the year of the Xinhai stem-branch in the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar.

  The revolution consisted of many revolts and uprisings. The turning point was the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911, that was a result of the mishandling of the Railway Protection Movement. The revolution ended with the abdication of the "Last Emperor" Puyi on February 12, 1912, that marked the end of over 2,000 years of imperial rule and the beginning of China's republican era. 

  The revolution arose mainly in response to the decline of the Qing state, which had proven ineffective in its efforts to modernize China and confront foreign aggression, and was exacerbated by ethnic resentment against the ruling Manchu minority. Many underground anti-Qing groups, with the support of Chinese revolutionaries in exile, tried to overthrow the Qing. The brief civil war that ensued was ended through a political compromise between Yuan Shikai, the late Qing military strongman, and Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Tongmenghui. After the Qing court transferred power to the newly founded republic, a provisional coalition government was created along with the National Assembly. However, political power of the new national government in Beijing was soon thereafter monopolized by Yuan Shikai and led to decades of political division and warlordism, including several attempts at imperial restoration.

  The revolution eliminates the numerous faults of the Qing government's incompetent ruling like the detrimental hereditary system, prevalence of corruption, the arrogant believe of sino-centrism and many more. However, with the start of a presidential system, wars broke out between warlords due to the prevailing thirst for power. A revolution to improve people's life by reforming a faulted system ultimately result in more pain and sufferings, defeating it's purpose of improving lives. Nonetheless, this revolution is an important milestone in China's history and the start of reforms to open up China's door to foreign influences.

Gate of Heavenly Peace

Front view of the majestic Tiananmen Square

  Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the fourth largest city square in the world, covering a staggering 44 hectares. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. The square is best known in recent memory as the focal point of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended on 4 June 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and the death of several hundred or possibly thousands of civilians.

  The Tiananmen Square protests is a student-led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place in the spring of 1989 and received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. The crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which student demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks. The scale of military mobilization and the resulting bloodshed were unprecedented in the history of Beijing. 

  The protests were triggered in April 1989 by the death of former Communist Party General Secretary, Hu Yaobang, a liberal reformer, who was deposed after losing a power struggle with hardliners over the direction of political and economic reform. University students marched and gathered in Tiananmen Square to mourn. Hu had also voiced grievances against inflation, limited career prospects, and corruption of the party elite. The protesters called for government accountability, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the restoration of workers' control over industry. At the height of the protests, about a million people assembled in the Square.

  The protest signifies the unhappiness of the people after the 1946 civil war. Even after the shift of power, the people were still not adequately taken care of, furthermore, the government reacted poorly to this display of dissatisfaction by initiating a massacre on the protesters, staining the name of the government and causing outsider to perceive the government as merciless and cruel.