When the time finally came for me to fly to China, I was really excited. I haven't been on an airplane for 4 long years, so the feeling of the motion of flying and the vast sea, land, sky I could see through the cabin window was utmost thrilling.
I took the train from the airport to get to my city. The train in China was very different front the MRT Train in Singapore. Scenery flash past the train window and the train rumble away, I had a nostalgic feeling.
At Fuzhou, my hometown, the first thing I have on my to-do list was to try out all the food I hadn't had for years, as well as other delicacies native to my area. Streets in China was lined up with all kinds of restaurants, though not as high class and decorated as Singapore's restaurants, the food there is definitely not worse.
At my house in China, I rummaged through my cupboard and drawers for things that brought me sweet memories from my childhood. There were textbooks, diary, notebooks and family photo album. The photos of tiny me in the album almost always made me facepalm myself. The picture below is just an example of how stupid-looking I was...
For the following 20 days in China, I visited places I never thought I would go, I see things I never knew exist. I also visited relatives I hadn't seen for years. This one trip to my great aunt's pig farm was the one that would be etched deeply in my mind for years to come. The farm was situated on a rather remote plain by the sea. There were a dozen pig pens scattered around, each housed pigs in their different stage of life. There were pens for new born piglets, young pigs, strong fat male pigs and gigantic female pig for breeding. The different pigs received different treatment, watching how my aunt and uncle take care of the pigs was really interesting. I was also surprised to realize that not all pig pens smell like decayed feces. The pen for piglets smelled rather pleasant, just like how a well kept dog kennel would smell, but those pens for old and lazy pigs, they stank of shit and vomit...
Oh, there was this little pig who was bullied by his big ass friends all the time, so he was given the special privilege to wander about outside the cage and laugh at his imprisoned friends. It's funny how pigs has cliques and friend preference like us. 
One of my uncle also own a fish plus dog farm near his house. He visits the farm everyday to take care of the dogs and feed the fishes. I was thrilled when he invited me over to his farm to take a look at the dogs. The fishes weren't that interesting. It was just a few "ponds" separated by platform in between for walking. Twice a day my uncle's hired worker would scoop buckets and buckets of fish food and toss them into the pond. Instantly the ponds sprang into live, all the fishes would be jumping out of the water to eat the food. It was really spectacular when thousands of the fish splashed around at the same time, causing the whole pond to ripple violently. At other times, when there's no food, the water would be calm and occasionally the fish would leap above water like dolphins.
The other part of the farm, the dog farm was even more amusing. There were dozens of dogs of a variety of species in their cages. My uncle told me he would buy useful guard dogs, or beautiful pet dogs to breed them, he also offered a service to give shelter to abandoned dogs. He dogs would stay in the cage for most times, and from time to time, they would be taken out to wash, or have a walk. The dogs rarely see stranger, so they were extremely hostile and barked the place down when they saw me near them. Luckily they were in their cages, or I would be torn into millions of pieces and become into their supper. But they were oh so beautiful I just had to take a picture of them.
My returning date drew near, and the days left for my visit was almost over. My father decide to take me on his motorcycle on last time and go on a road trip. The country road twisted and turned, beautiful scenery of nature slowly swept passed us. Roads in Singapore was always lined with sky-scrapping housings, and highly developed settlements. In China, it was a vast, unending plains where green goes beyond eyes could see and the calm horizon was not disturbed by sky-high buildings. There was no word to describe this beauty.
You might be thinking "eeyeerr, why these places so ulu one, so dirty some more, 鬼才要去" Yes, the living standard in China is far lower than that of Singapore, but these food, farms, scenery, you can never see them in Singapore. These are trademarks of a mediocre living standard country, but these are the beautiful product of nature and human, where they coexist and support each other, to produce a beautiful country view where time passed slower, and life is more meaningful.
This trip was indeed entertaining and was a great eye opener for me, I learnt more about China's recent development, community, living style and nature. It would be a great pleasure for me to revisit China again and experience this thrill once more.
By: Wang Xuchen (33)
By: Wang Xuchen (33)
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