OELP Everyday Reflection

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08:49
Day 1: Night Trip to Song Dynasty City
Squeals of excitement could be heard from our class when we got off the plane in China. It was our first day there in Hangzhou, and I was really happy and excited at that time. We went to the Song Dynasty City (宋城) at night, and although I was afraid that it would be very boring initially, my emotions were replaced with wonder and curiosity when we arrived at the Song Dynasty City. The Song Dynasty City is the largest theme park dedicated to the Song Dynasty in China.  The place was a replica of the olden times, and practically everything was made out of wood. The streets were lined with shops, restaurants, and stores, all of which were designed to look like they belonged to the former Chinese culture. The shop houses looked very run-down, and the people in the shops all wore very traditional costumes. It felt like we were in a totally different world when I tried to take in what I saw. I was surprised and amazed when I saw all of that, because in Singapore we seldom see anything that was preserved or carried forward from the olden days. The whole place really let my imagination run wild, and I felt like I was living in the Song Dynasty for a while during the trip. I realized how much the world has changed when I noticed the differences between how China is now and how it used to be then. It was as if we all went back to the past when we were there.  We went for the Song City night performance show (宋城千古情), which started at around 8pm. The performance was brilliant, displaying a wide array of colours to attract our attention. It consisted of stories on the history of China, and the dramatic performance was really eye-catching and amazing.  It felt really cool and wonderful to have such a vivid live experience because I don’t really go to such performances and I must say I was very glad I managed to attend something so lovely. I was happy I was there to see it for myself to get the best experience, like the slight spraying of water on us, and even seeing the performers walking down the aisles alongside our seats, wearing their flashy and bright costumes. However, one thing I did regret was the fact that I was not really prepared for the performance, so I was a little confused when they were performing because I was not too sure about the plot. However, I was fortunate enough to have one of my classmate explain it to me, and I got very interested in the stories and how they came about in China. After much thought, I really noticed the drastic change and how different the world is now, and I felt that the performance really reemphasised the fact on how far we have reached today. Even though I probably needed some background information on the history of China or the stories behind it to truly enjoy the beautiful performance, I was happy enough to be there to see it and I am sure everyone else enjoyed it. I believed that after that performance, the stories really sparked my interest in the history of China, and I felt that I became more open towards their culture and tradition. I found out that when I was there, I really managed to learn a lot more about their culture and how it used to be or rather, how it is different from their culture now in the present. Looking back, I actually realised how the great tourist attraction was also a form of good memory for China as they designed it to look like the Song Dynasty days. To be honest, I was very touched when I was in the Song Dynasty City because I felt like there were a lot of good memories and experiences that I also enjoyed very much in Singapore, and although it was only the first day, I felt a little homesick and missed home a little bit after we went back to our hotel.
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Day 2: Factory Visit at Wahaha, Tea Museum and Plantations
Before we went to the factory, we were asked to read up on Wahaha beforehand, and there were even some articles in the learning booklet to help supplement us so that we are better prepared for the factory visit later on. In 1991, with a team of only about 100 employees, Wahaha merged with Hangzhou Canned-Food Factory. The latter had about 2,000 employees then. The cost was 80 million RMB. Following the merge, Wahaha Food Group Co., Ltd. was established. The new company commenced to make profit, though the canned-food factory as its predecessor had posted an operating loss of 40 million RMB just three months prior. By the end of 1991, the revenue broke through a threshold of 100 million RMB for the first time, reaching 217 million RMB. Wahaha has turned into a large enterprise as a result. We were greeted by one of the employees there, who very kindly brought us through the history of Wahaha and its reason for success. As much as I knew that there would always be obstacles ahead of a growing company, I was surprised when I learnt how the company conquered the problems and came up with unique and feasible solutions to solve the situations. For example, at the time where advertisements were not popular, Wahaha was one of the few companies which actually introduced their small business at that time to the world by advertising. However, instead of just stopping there, they eventually thought of even greater an better ideas, such as getting current local stars and idols to advertise their products in order to grasp people’s full attention. In times of despair, Wahaha never backed out from it and they never give up hope no matter what they come across. That, I believe, is why they succeed. The company takes calculated risk and tries out different methods to make themselves different from other businesses, as well as thinking from different perspectives of the citizens and consumers, such as the oral nutritive liquid which won a favorable response ever since its launch with its evident function of solving children’s protracted food partially. Also, despite production difficulties because of SARS, energy supply shortages, and raw material price increases in 2003, the company still managed to surpass its sales target of 10 billion RMB last year. The Wahaha company was very successful in managing talents as well. There were different statuses and levels in the company, and higher ranks would definitely enjoy more benefits, such as higher pay and many more. In rder to ensure that employees will continue working hard instead of remaining stagnant and being satisfies with their current status, they will be incentivized to satisfy the conditions and come up with better ideas that can benefit the company in the process. This means that only the most talented, capable and hardworking employees would be able to hold the most important positions. Because of their great planning and management within the company, Wahaha was very innovative and often had a lot of major breakthroughs as mentioned earlier. They never stopped to do scientific research and find out more about the demands in the population of consumers and buyers. Their products were thus very special and always had a sort of freshness to it which was why it attracted so many customers. All of this eventually led to the great success of Wahaha.
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Next, we went to the Xie Yuda tea plantation, where we were shown and taught how to determine which ones are tea leaves and which one are not, as well as how to pluck the tea leaves. In the process, we learnt a lot of other things regarding tea leaves, such as how it is better to pluck them when they are still considered pretty young, what kind of tea leaves they have and so on. Since I was a tea lover, I was actually very amazed and pretty much in awe at all the tea leaves they have there. We then went into the Museum, where we learnt a lot more about the company itself and was then later brought to a room where we were asked to try some of their tea, namely chrysanthemum tea and Mao Feng tea. We were told about its medicinal effects and how it was really beneficial for the body, especially for the ladies. I was really interested in their medicinal value and lovely smell and taste, so I was really enjoying myself during the taste test.
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Day 3: Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum, Tunxi Ink Factory, Hongcun Ancient Village, Xidi Ancient Village, and Tunxi Ancient Street
We headed for the Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum. We were greeted by our guide, who told us more about the history behind the museum and how it came about. We were told how calculating money was often an issue there, and since Cheng Dawei was a prodigy when it came to math, he managed to come up with the abacus as well as a simpler and easier method to calculating all the sums. Cheng Dawei (1533–1606) was a great master of ancient abacus in Ming Dynasty. He published "General Guide to Calculation" and "Strategic Keynotes to Calculation". The museum consists of the Residential Area, Family Shrine House and Abacus Exhibition Room. The two-storied building facing the south is brick-woos structured with binary courtyards. The five-room Ancestor Shrine House lies on the western side of the mansion. The traditional winding corridor, lawns and flower nursery look graceful and elegant. A portrait of Cheng Dawei is hung on the wall of the Abacus Exhibition Hall. There are more than 1,000 abacuses and 3,000 copies of related materials displayed in the showcases. These abacuses are made of gold, silver, ivory, jade, stone, hard wood respectively with different shapes. He was thus deeply respected by everyone in the country and even beyond, because of his capability to standardize the way of calculating money.
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Moving on, we went to the Tunxi Ink Factory to take a look at the manufacturing processes of traditional ink. Firstly, they had to collect and make the ink dough into the perfect texture before molding it into blocks and sticks. To do this, they had to use a hammer to pound the dough before they arrive at the texture they want. It seemed very dangerous, because as much as the men were quick to remove their hand away from the dough every time they fold it to prevent getting hit by the hammer, it was very risky and a lot of us were worried that they would hurt themselves despite their experience in this field. We then saw them weighing the amount of ink before shaping the soot or dough into blocks to harden. After that, they had to carve in any design or words into the hardened ink block by hand. It was very tedious and obviously required a steady hand and full concentration as well as focus. We proceeded on to another room, where they started inking gold into the carved areas of the sticks entirely by hand. Everything was done so carefully with so much heart and effort put into it that I felt the tension in the air during our trip around the factory. I was really surprised that they had employees do everything by hand when I was expecting them to rely more on machines and technology instead of doing everything by hand. It was really a lot of effort, but it really did seem very worth it when the products were completed.
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We then went to the Tunxi Ancient Street where they sold many different traditional products. We were told to observe and find out one diminishing trade in the place. Our group believed that that would be the caramel candy, where they heat up candy and make designs and pictures on a hot stove before selling it to us. This seemed to be a diminishing trade, as we seldom see people eating or doing this kind of things anymore. In fact, it used to be quite popular in Singapore as well a while back but then the trend and trade died down after a while as times past and generations got more self-absorbed in their own world.
After that, we moved on to the Xidi and Hongcun ancient village. Both villages were very beautiful and remained the traditional background and culture it had preserved. The people there led very simple and contented lives, cherishing everything they had instead of taking things for granted. A lot of the things that they did, such as placing the decorations and as we moved on, we realized that almost every household had a vase and mirrors on a table with a clock in the middle of it. We were then told by the guide that it represented peace and harmony within the household. I also learnt that Xidi ancient village was very famous for its carvings, such as those on rocks and wood. The layout within the houses was also very unique and a completely foreign idea to me. At the corners of the houses, on the ceilings, there were different carvings that represented one’s status. We then saw the calligraphy writing of the word . Although from far it may just seem like a regular calligraphy writing, when you look at it and pay close attention to it, you will notice that on one side of it is a proud monkey throwing wild punches and on the other side, it is a human that can look up to others. I believe that this means that if you treat your parents well with respect and spend time with them, you are definitely someone worth looking up to and deserve a lot of respect instead of a barbaric monkey who cannot control himself and does not understand the definition of filial piety. I find that this definitely taught me a lot, and I went back to the hotel thinking about the writing, who I was and who I wanted to be. It was really a brain teaser for me, as I thought deeper and deeper into the subject. Frankly, this only made me more homesick and I really thought through a lot which I wanted to say to my parents when I meet them after the trip. I was getting impatient and I really wanted to see them again after this day.
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Day 4: Huang Shan
The moment I was at Huang Shan, I could feel the gentle breeze and mist of the  foggy cold atmosphere up there and really enjoyed that feeling when I was there. It was something I actually cherished because it was so cooling and was definitely a kind of weather that I was not going to be able to enjoy in Singapore. However, as we moved on, all of us could feel the weather turning duller as if it was about to rain and became more negative about the trip there. I was initially very excited but I felt a bit worried when I noticed the poor weather condition. Despite all of that, we still moved on with the trip and climbed the Huang Shan. We saw and observed a lot of different plants, such as ferns, and different types of pine trees. It was the first time I saw the pine trees, and I was very amazed by a lot of its unique structure and adaptations. One of the pine trees had branches mainly on one side of the trunk, in order to capture sufficient sunlight. The structure of the tree truly awed me as I was thinking about how it could adapt to its environment. In fact, it was really beautiful, and was shaped like a phoenix’s tail. I believe that Huangshan was striving because of tourism. It was able to be well maintained and preserved because of the great attention it received when tourists visit the place. If not, Huang Shan may have become very poorly maintained and preserved because no one is going to care about it anyway. This is also a great way to earn money – by turning it into a tourist attraction, where people can enjoy their walk and trip at Huang Shan, while still able to gaze and take in the lovely and breath-taking scenery. However, because of the bad weather conditions, we were not able to see very far, and for that we could only rely on what our guide said and imagine what was beyond the heavy fog and rain. Other than that though, I really enjoyed the cooling mountain climbing over at Huang Shan. It was tough, but still worth it.
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Day 5: Meiling Company
We were told about the reason and purpose for our trip to Meiling company, and that was to learn more about their strategies and how they were able to find growing success. Meiling company produces their own refrigerators and other electronics. However, when they were still a start-up company, they knew that people would not buy from a company without good experience and background. So, they came up with a brilliant idea to earn money by helping other more well known companies mass produce refrigerators under contracts and deals. We were all very surprised when we realised that the Panasonic brand actually let Meiling company help with the production of refrigerators. I guess we were shocked at the fact that the two countries would coincide in this matter and we realised how successful Meiling might just be when we noticed that such a well known brand in Singapore was actually under the contract of Meiling. It was pretty interesting as well when we saw the production of the refrigerators, how they were made, how the parts were assembled, and how they packaged them. It was a kind of experience I would never have been able to have so I was very thankful that I was fortunate enougg to be on this trip. It was really cool to see how they mass produce such big and bulky objects but it was really something I could not take my eyes off.  In short,  Meiling used reliable brands to promote their product. They also manufactured their own goods, but sell them at a lower price in their own country so that they could attract a larger group of customers. To make their refrigerators attractive, they also came up with feasible and cool innovations and functions, such as an electronic interface that keeps track of the food you have in the fridge, or allowing you to listen to music and watching TV, and other much more interesting and different yet unique ideas that might just blow me away. To be honest, I don’t think that Singapore is a very attractive place for businesses to set up their operations in, because it is more expensive, and depends on the imported goods, which add on to the cost of production, such as transportation, shipment and high tax rates.  Moreover, there is an obvious lack of space, which prevents companies from expanding their business easily and will be even more expensive when doing so.  In my opinion, not a lot of companies in Singapore can survive because of the nature of business that Singapore attracts. Singapore is a country where children are taught how to care more about academics and less about holistic education, like arts, music and others, which is why the business attracted to the country would be more on education. This limits the kind of businesses companies can set up here. Lastly, it is also too competitive for start up countries. Most of us in Singapore only look for the best and top quality products, or at least those with famous well known branding, this means that a lot of beginner companies would not be able to make a profit and may even have money loss after paying the rental fee of the place they own. This makes everything very difficult for the companies, therefore I do not think that Singapore is an attractive place for businesses to set up their operations in. After that, we headed for Shou Chun High School. I was very excited on our way to the trip because I was really curious and wanted to know the friends I will meet and how different the environment would actually be. When we arrived, we were greeted by a lot of lovely faces of students and we were directed to the multimedia room, where we knew each other more. We then proceeded to our respective classrooms. For us, we headed to Class 13 and were warmly greeted by the class. We then followed them to the Chemistry Lab, where we sat through a lesson with them on determining the levels of Vitamin C each drink had. It was something really interesting and fresh to me. What really surprised me was how flexible the lesson was. Everyone could bring their own drink into the class for the test, unlike what I would expect, which was that everyone had to have the same types of drinks. This really made me ponder and I realised how inflexible I really was. These made me further wonder if Singaporeans were really so inflexible and how different we were in terms of upbringing. I made a lot of friends and I felt really at home when I was with them because of their easy acceptance of me I guess. I felt really blessed to meet them and I was glad I did not miss the opportunity to talk and interact with them.
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Day 6: School Immersion Programme and Supermarket Research
The first lesson we attended was Physics lesson and during the lesson, I could feel myself getting very confused and blanking out because I could not understand the topic on Friction since we were not on that topic yet in Singapore. However despite all that, I had the help of my group members who noticed my confused face and lent me a helping hand by explaining to me as simply as they can to me in plain Chinese. I was very happy that they would actually go to all that trouble just to help someone they just met and felt really touched by their hospitality. Later on, we had Math and Chinese lesson. I was very worried when it came to Chinese lesson to be honest because I already knew my incapability to understand them as easily. During the Chinese lesson, we were told to analyse and read out a poem and I was really scared because I seriously did not know what was going on. Everyone else was reading with so much burning passion and energy that I was worried I would pull the whole group down when it was my turn to speak. I was relieved when they told me it was okay because they knew I would try my very best and I was really moved when they said all those words of encouragement. After the lessons, the students in my group started bombarding me with questions about me and Singapore, like how the place is, the languages we speak, the things we do and eventually we exchanged our QQ numbers as well. I was really sad when I had to leave them because I believe you could say that we were already getting so close together that I felt like I relied on them a lot. They were so nice they even gave me some farewell gifts and in the end we took pictures together to keep this day in memory forever. I was really happy that I have met so many friends and it was an experience I could never get out of my head.  After we left the class, we went on with sports meet, where I ended up learning how to play volleyball. I never really was good at playing sports, but I tried to grasp the techniques and put in a lot of effort to try and get the basics right. It was really thanks to the student who taught me how to play that I learnt something fun that day and could play at least a little bit of volleyball. It was a day I could not forget and I was super worn out that day because of the drastic change in emotions and work out.
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We then headed for the largest supermarket in Hefei for our market research, where my group was assigned to research on mineral water, congee, juice and rice. We found out that the prices really varied a lot and there were a lot of fluctuations and differences in similar products. I learnt how to take note of the quantity and prices of goods a lot better after doing the market research. 
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Day 7: House Visit, Bookstore, and Huangmei Opera
We met our buddy in school in the morning and her parents were there to greet us as well. I felt a little nervous at first because I was afraid they were very strict with us and everything but it turned out that they were very warm and friendly and I was slightly more at ease after talking to them a little bit more. We went into her house, and it had a very cosy and warm feeling to it, probably because most of the furniture were made from wood and the floors were mostly parquet. It was very beautifully designed, and the house was really kept in good condition. They gave us a warm welcome by treating us to their local delicacies and best local fruits, such as the cherries and snacks. Shortly after that though, our buddy’s father offered to bring us out into the city while her mother stayed at home to cook. To be honest, we felt like a burden when we were there because they had to go to such lengths to give us the best hospitality treatment we could have. I realised how friendly they really were and wondered if the same would happen if we were in Singapore, like whether we would cook for them or just bring them out to eat and so on. We went into the city, where her father really treated us to 30cm tall ice cream and refused the money we gave him to pay for the ice cream. Later on, we went to visit many road side shops and he bought us more food. We felt very bad, but he told us it was really okay and that we should just eat whatever he bought because it was all on him. He even brought us to the Li Hongzhang Museum and paid for our tickets as well. While we were in there, we saw a lot of historical items, and learnt a lot about the late Li Hongzhang. The exhibition consists of a lot of miniature figurines and figures of ships and boats that Li Hongzhang used and all for the attacks and everything. We also saw different types of guns and their formation, as well as the attire and what they wore in the past during the time. The displays there were really very eye-catching and getting the real life experience by being there was simply amazing. When we headed back to our buddy’s home, we were greeted by a strong aroma of delicious and tasty looking dishes. We dug into a sumptuous meal and although I was not able to fully adapt to the way they cook, such as more oil and salt, I got to say that her cooking ws really fantastic and top-notch. I felt really at home during the stay at their house for half of the day because they treated us like family. After lunch, we ended up playing some card games. Our buddy taught us how to play one of their local games using poker cards, and we in turn introduced them to UNO. Although UNO is not really a Singaporean game, it was something that practically everyone in Singapore knows how to play so we decided to teach them how to play the game as well. Of course, we had a lot of fun talking and just chit-chatting about almost everything. I enjoyed myself to the fullest during the house visit and was even more surprised when they gave each of us our very own calligraphy set – 文房四宝. It did seem extremely expensive and despite our initial responses to politely reject the precious and heartfelt offer, they made sure we brought it back with us and told us it was their gift to us. I was very touched when they were so polite, kind and friendly to us and I truly felt like a real great burden to them. I was afraid I may have burnt a hold in their pocket for all the trouble and expenses they had to go through to let us enjoy the trip.  It was really fun and I was really glad I went to their house.
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We proceeded to the Anhui University of Arts after saying our goodbyes to the family in school, where we watched some of the Huangmei Opera performed by their very own students. We were then taught the actions and some of their basic steps. I was a bit nervous and shy at the same time so I did not really dare to perform at my best. After gaining more insight from the school, we were asked to think about how we can better promote traditional opera to the youths in Singapore. Our group believed that we can promote by introducing traditional opera during music lessons in our curriculum, or even incorporating some modern content into traditional opera in order to attract students to it. In fact, we may even have a festival for traditional opera where we let different CCAs come together to form and complete a Chinese opera project in order for them to understand and learn more about it.
After that, we went to the bookstore, which had 6 levels in total!!! I was so excited because I had always been a big fan of going to bookstores and having it 6 times more really increased my excitement level by 6 times as well. I bought some stationery and a notebook, but best and most of all, I bought a whole series of Sherlock Holmes for myself. It was shocking even for me because I did not even care about the consequences, such as the space I have left in my luggage but I was really delighted when I saw that Sherlock Holmes series actually came in a whole set, so on impulse I purchased it all at a really cheap price. Even though it was an impulsive buy, the fact that I love Sherlock Holmes books never fades away so I believe that there is enough motivation for me to go home and read the Sherlock Holmes books that I bought. 

Day 8: Trip Back to Singapore

We went to the train station to take a train back to Hangzhou in order to go back to Singapore from there. After the ride, we took a break at HaiDiLao restaurant, and they greeted us with the best service ever. The food was absolutely delicious, and their service really made everything feel very pleasant. Towards the end, they had a wonderful and cool performance when they pulled the noodles and stretched them while performing. It was really amazing and I was in awe when they performed. It seemed like so much fun and I could not imagine the amount of time they probably had to spend to try and get it right. We were later told that every employee in HaiDiLao had a part in the shares of the company, which was probably why they had such great treatment and service. I was really surprised when I heard that, because that was actually a considerably risky thing to do, and yet that was a very unique idea that seems to work out really well. After all that, we were even given a cup of snacks to take home with us. We headed for the airport and eventually back to Singapore. Even though I was always homesick in China, I suddenly felt sad and did not want to leave China when we had to. It was kind of like a stir of mixed-up emotions, but I was really happy I could go on this fun and enjoyable trip as a class. 
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OELP daily reflection

0
07:55
Day One

After disembarking from the airplane, we went to visit the Song Dynasty City and the highlight of this visit was the Song Dynasty performance. As the theme park was a replica of ancient China eg.the houses were made of wood ,their architecture was taken from ancient buildings ,and the people in the theme park wore traditional costumes, i could learn and observe more about China 's culture and heritage. The performance was truly captivating and portrayed to me how life was like for China in the past, during war or how an emperor 'celebration in the palace was carried out. However, i beg to differ with the theme park 'slogan; "给我一天,还你千年". It translates to mean " Give me a day, and i'll return you a thousand years of the past."(At least thats what i think it means haha)However, i feel that it you wish to learn about the history of a thousand years, you might actually need more than a day . On a brighter note, the slogan isn't all that bad as it seems very intriguing and attractive to tourists who wish to visit the theme park.



Day Two
Today we went to to Wahaha factory and Chengkan Xie Yuda Tea Meuseum and Tea plantations. Through the Wahaha factory visit, we have learnt about the success of Wahaha , and how they made use of unique and clever marketing strategies that included advertisements, promotions and nationalism to attract customers. Most importantly, it was CEO Zong 's entrepreneurship and clever yet creative innovations that lead Wahaha to where it is in the global market today. After that ,we visited the tea musuem and the plantations . I learnt about the types of teas China produce eg. Chrysanthemum tea, Huangshan Maofeng tea and Red tea. Most of us should know chrysanthemum and red tea but Huangshan Maofeng tea is rather unknown to us as it is only specially produced in Huangshan, thus giving it its name. I wanted to buy some back for my grandfather as he is an avid tea lover but after realizing he can't  even finish those at his house already ,i decided not to.



Day Three

On our third day of the trip, we went to Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum , Tunxi Ink Factory and Hongcun and Xidi Ancient Villages. At the abacus museum and ink factory , we learnt about the history and development of abacus throughtout the years and the production of ink respectively. It was the ancient villages that left me with a deeper impression as we spent more time there and there was more to observe and learn. At the villages , you seem like as if you went back to the past. They don't have big and tall buildings but houses that are run-down and old . When i step into them, i see carvings on the walls and mostly wooden furniture. Technology isn't that advanced there , but i can see that the people there are contented with living such a simple yet happy life. 






Day Four 
On the next day, we climbed Mount Huangshan. It was a real pity that it was raining on that day as the fog surrounded the mountain and we could enjoy the scenery .  Thus, our tour guide told us more of what could be seen on the mountain, eg, the phoenix pine tree. It got its name from its appearance, which looks like phoenix tail.At one peak, the rocks were very slippery and steep and we had much trouble reaching the top. In the end, we decided to come down quickly as there was a probability that our classmates might slip and fall down on the jagged rocks, and the consequences would be dire. It was indeed tiring to trek on the mountain for such a long time , but with the company of our classmates and the great weather, we were able to reach all the places that we had targeted to go . 




Day Five
We went to Meiling Company and 寿春中学 for the exchange programme today.At Meiling, we had a tour around their factory and learnt more their business strategies.For example, Meiling taps on the profile of citizens as they are patriotic and would hence of course support Meiling. Meiling Company is also very innovative as their refrigerators have a touch-screen which can display recipes,play music and even tell you the expiry dates of the products placed inside. When we reached 寿春中学 in the afternoon, we received a warm welcome from them . Their class chairperson first introduced their school to us and then we had some time to talk to our buddies before rushing off for lessons. During the lessons,  i've observed that the students they are very focused and participative during class. Whenever the teacher asks a question, he or she would get a spontaneous reply from the class. Their enthusiasm and passion towards learning really amazed me there and then . We had our performance later and in my opinion, we didn't do too badly and the practice we had every night really paid off. At least , we all enjoyed ourselves to the fullest and left no regrets.




Day Six

We spent most of the day at 寿春中学 and there were many activities organized for us.Firstly, we learnt how to make dumplings.The dumplings in China are quite different from those in Singapore and they do not contain meat. We had a hard time trying to tie the dumplings as we had never done this before and the rice kept dropping out. After that, we learnt more about Anhui's food culture and i had the chance to try rice wine for the first time . Well, i can only say i'll never forget its taste again.Following that, we made face masks and had a sports meet with their fellow schoolmates. Afterwards, we conducted a market research at the biggest supermarket in Hefei. I saw something very interesting at the supermarket . It was a big pool of rice where there were scoops to place rice into plastic bags. It was really interesting as there were sacks of rice available nearby and i didn't know what was the difference between buying the sacks of rice and this.   



Day Seven

On the second last day , we had our home visit. Our buddy and his family were very hospitable , courteous and we felt quite comfortable with them in no time. We didn't stay in my buddy's house all the time but went out for a game of badminton downstairs   and a slow stroll through their neighbourhood, where we saw the daily life of the young and old. When we came back for lunch , there was a wide spread of food on the table and our buddy's mother said that what she cooked were the specialities of Hefei. I tasted them and they were very delicious, although their way of cooking and preference is rather contrasting to that of Singapore. When we finished lunch , we headed back to the school. It was an emotional farewell for me as a whole, as it was time for us to leave and we would have to say goodbye to our buddies , someone that we had grown so close with over the past few days.Even though we might be seeing each other anymore,"友谊是天长地久的!"as quoted by the teacher of 2'13, and I can't agree better !

Day Eight
It was our last day of our trip and there was a feeling of reluctance as we left Hefei. We took the high speed rail towards Hangzhou before eating at HaiDiLao restaurant. The high speed rail only took about 2hours , and the journey was very smooth and stable, unlike an aeroplane. The service at HaiDiLao is excellent , as compared to those in Singapore and the food was so delicious that we ended up fighting for it . LOL! That marked the end of our trip to China and we left for the airport. Although this trip was just a short 8 days, we have learnt alot and also grown alot closer together as a class 
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OELP daily reflections

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09:16
Day 1: Departure at Airport and visit to the Song Dynasty Town

This day was the start of the epic journey of 2F in China. The day was pretty short though due to the preparations and baggage checks at the airport in the morning at 7.30am and the 5 hour aeroplane ride. When we arrived at the Song Dynasty Town which is situated at the southern-west part of the West Lake scenic area backing on Wuyun Moutain with the Qiantang River on its south. The Song Dynasty Town is the first and largest theme park featuring the civilisation of Song Dynasty in China. The Song Dynasty's period was from (A.D 960-1279) and it was the dynasty in which its development of economy, science technology and culture was advanced at that point of time. When we reached the Song Dynasty Town, I was surprised and shocked to see that the theme park was not like any other theme park like Disney Land or Universals Studios, with its roller coasters and fun rides, but it is just a theme park with shops and various themed venues to allow visitors to experience what was it like to be in the Song Dynasty's era. I realised that the people living in the Song dynasty era live in wooden houses due to that their technology was limited and that there were many trees in there thus they can use the wood from the trees and the likelihood is that they would build wooden houses. However, the contractions of this is that if a fire would occur, it would be very hard for the people living in wooden houses to escape due to that wood conducts fire easily and that the risk of deaths is very high. The Song Dynasty Town tourist attraction has amalgate cultural as well as historical aspects into it and i feel that there are many possibilities for Singapore as Singapore has a rich and diverse history, from the founding of colonial Singapore to the saddening death of our late Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew, hence, it would be not hard to amalgate cultural as well as historical aspects into a business. After dinner, we headed to the hotel where we were given a long debrief about the trip to the Song Dynasty Town and could not wait for the days in OELP to come.












Group picture taken outside Song Dynasty Town Tourist attraction

Picture of the performances which depicts the Song Dynasty Era

Day 2: Wahaha Factory visit as well as visit to ChengKan Xie Yuda Tea museum and Tea plantation

The next day, we were told on the bus ride to the Wahaha Factory to read up on the achievements of the Wahaha Factory and how it became a huge successful company from a small set up shop in an elementary school in HangZhou, Zhejiang. The Hang Zhou Wahaha Group is currently China's leading domestic beverage producer with roughly 70 subsidiary companies and 40 manufacturing bases scattered throughout China.The owner of the company, Mr Zong Qing Hou, started his business on a tricycle, selling ice cream, soda drinks as well as exercise notebooks. However, through taking advantages of situations and thinking out of the box to venture to new methods as well as innovative marketing methods, Mr Zong Qing Hou progressed his small company to a huge successful company in just 11 years. One of the situations when he took advantage of is that when the milk powder in China had severe problems, Wahaha Company created a new brand of milk powder that has many health benefits which caused a massive boom in the sales of Wahaha Company. Next, by having advertisements for the product, a catchy slogan for the product as well as using celebrities to promote its products and many other methods, it allows the citizens of China to remember Wahaha's products easily so that they will recall its popularity and buy it in the market or shops.The Wahaha Company also dared to ventured into new technology to even purify their water for it to be the most purified water in China and thus it would increase sales of purified water in Wahaha Company.

Afterwards, we headed to the ChengKan Xie Yuda Tea museum and Tea plantation. At the Tea plantation, we were shown how the tea plants were grown, how to keep the pests away as well as how to pluck the leaves out of the plant properly. Then, we headed to ChengKan Xie Yuda Tea museum to know about the culture as well as the history of the tea leaves and to also taste the Tea leaves. Some of the tea leaves that were yielded were the MaoFeng tea, Chrysanthemum tea and the Red tea. Tea played an important part in the culture of the Chinese as the young always serve tea to the elder generation as a form of respect.I also learnt about the uses of the various teas and how it is used to treat people.

Trip to the Chengkan Xie Yuda Tea plantation


Wahaha Company's wide range of products on display

Day 3; Tunxi Ink Factory, ChengDaWei Abacus museum, Tunxi Ancient Street and HongCun as well as Xidi Ancient Villages

First, we went to the ChengDaWei Abacus museum. There were many abacuses there, even with some preserved from the early 1900s. The guide told us that in HuangShan, there were many mountains, little plantations and fertile soil, hence the people there had to resort to going to other places to trade for food and thus the need for calculation. Cheng Da Wei was a gifted mathematician and built a calculator known then as an abacus to simplify calculations easily. His contribution of the Abacus proved a great help to people across the world and he was even respected by renowned mathematicians.

Next we headed to the Tunxi Ink factory, the guide there told us that firstly, black soot was collected for the black ink. Then, the black ink was formed into rectangular blocks and then painted with gold ink to be heated and dried up. It was told that the process could take up to one year. Both the Tunxi Ink Factory and the ChengDaWei Abacus museum are both similar in the terms that they both contain significance as well as a purpose.

Then, we headed to the Tunxi Ancient Street. There were many traditional goods for culture and snacks there. I feel that one of the diminishing trades on the Tunxi Ancient Street is the abacus. I chose the abacus as with the invention of the modern calculator nowadays, rarely people use the old "calculator" abacus again. Besides, the calculator is way simpler and easier to use rather than the abacus. It tells me that traditional goods are slowly losing to technology nowadays. In order to promote their goods to us, various shop owners played their musical instruments and showed-case it to attract customers. I feel that some of the older trades in Singapore such as the small shops lying around in the shopping malls are diminishing. Since young, I had always seen small shops lying around in shopping malls in the form of carts but nobody still seems to buy from them and thus no business converts to no money and hence shopping carts in Singapore are not ideal for business.

Afterwards, we headed towards Xidi Ancient villages as well as the HongCun Ancient village. We learnt that the types of houses that people stayed in depends on their status and their wealth. The houses there were built by stones and not concrete. I also learnt that the richer people there spent alot of money to protect their houses from robbers or kidnappers by placing many security measures by their door.


Paranomic view of the village

A small provision shop in the Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum


Some abacuses at the Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum 



Day 4: Mt.HuangShan

That morning we woke up especially early but only to meet the wet drizzling rain. We were very sad but all of us still persevered on and took the shuttle bus to Mt. HuangShan. We took the cable car to the top of the Mt.Huangshan. It was especially chilly and misty that day due to the early morning drizzle. Along the trail on Mt. HuangShan, there was a kind old lady that offered me her wooden walking stick. Personally, I was shocked as it was not everyday that you would see a person helping out another person out in the open. I was very touched and also thanked that kind old lady profoundly. Huang Shan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography besides being a popular tourist attraction. The experience of  climbing Mt.HuangShan was a very refreshing and fun one as I climbed the mountain with my classmates and it is the first mountain that I have climbed. On the way back my teachers asked us a question to debate on in the bus, "Why does tourism help to preserve HuangShan?" They then seperated the class into 2 groups to debate. I was in the group that agreed that tourism helps to preserve HuangShan. I agreed due to the fact that if HuangShan was not famous, it would just be a mountain and it can be destroyed for more housing space or development space. However, HuangShan is a popular tourism sight and it provides money for the government from the selling of its tickets and if the government decides to shut HuangShan down, it would be a great loss in revenue. Hence, tourism helps to preserve HuangShan. After the climb, my friend told me a memorable quote that would be etched in my mind which was "2F came, 2F saw, 2F conquered." That night, we spent long hours trying to get our performance right and proper to give a good impression for the people at ShouChun High School.

View from the Cable car on the way to the peak of Huang Shan
Huang Shan moutain's view

Day 5: Meiling electronics and visited ShouChun High school as well the market

This morning, we were very fortunate to have an industrial visit to the Meiling electronics manufacturing factory. Meiling electronics is a manufacturing company that helps other branded companies such as electrolux and panasonic to manufacture their products and have it " Made and China" and sold at a cheaper price instead of the "Made in Japan". This provides a revenue and profit for the Meiling electronics due to the popularity of the brand.

 When we reached the school, we were paired up with our buddies to mingle around. At first it may be awkward, but it was quite fun after awhile. Then we were assigned to different classes to have lessons. I was shocked initially to find out that the board used for the lessons was the blackboard and they used chalks. I was also very shocked that in the toilet, there were actually no cubicles and everything was just shown to the naked eye. It was also explained that there were no cubicles in the toilet so as to prevent students from loitering in the toilets and return to class to resume studying. The discipline in the school was also way stricter than in Singapore. When we had our conjoined performance with the choir of ShouChun Secondary School, we swayed side to side while the choir stood firmly and straightly. This reflects strongly in the discipline of the schools.

At the super market, we were sent to do our market research. We found our for most of the same quantity of goods, it is cheaper in China than Singapore.

View in class when the teacher is teaching



Showcase of fridges at the Meiling Electronics

Day 6: Full Day School Immersion Trip

Today, we went to the ShouChun High School for a full day immersion. From morning till the afternoon, I took Chinese and math classes. The atmosphere in the Chinese lesson was different from what was like in Singapore. Even though my Chinese was very awkward and it made my new group China members laugh, they still taught me the harder Chinese words with ease and patience. They read their Chinese paper with such gusto and tone which amazed me as in Singapore, no matter how much tone and expression that we try to put into our reading, we could never read with as much gusto as them. Surprisingly, during math class, the students do not try the questions first but always wait for their teacher to teach them the methods before applying it in the questions.

After the lessons, we headed to the teacher's cafeteria to learn how to make rice dumplings as well as eating our lunch there.We were taught how to make the filling and wrap the leaves. Rice dumplings are an integral part of the Chinese culture. In Singapore, we usually buy rice dumplings from shops and that we rarely make our own rice dumplings. Hence, I felt that this was a good opportunity to experience our roots, our tradition.

After the rice dumpling making session, we headed to the conference room and started our lesson on the culture and history of the Peking Opera as well as the face painting mask session. I was one of the few people who was selected to go on stage with the mask to do a performance.

At the end of the day, we were given the opportunity to face the schools basketball, badminton as well as volleyball team. I headed to the volleyball section. Despite not being able to challenge them to a match, they were still kind enough to teach me the fundamentals of playing volleyball.

Face painting opportunity in ShouChun Secondary School
Making rice dumplings

Day 7: House visit, book shop as well as the University or Arts

That morning,we assembled in school to meet the buddy whose house we were going to visit. The group members that were assigned to go with me are Keefe,Isaac and Ying Cheng. As soon as we got to know our buddies, we clicked instantly and talked for the whole trip to his house. At his house, our buddy's father immediately cooked for us while I played chinese chess with the 2 buddies. Surprisingly, I beat the 2 of them in Chinese Chess and our buddy's father came to play with me. The game was intense and it finally was ended to the favour of our buddy's father.

Then, we went out to play badminton as well as catching, we played till we were all sweaty and tired and returned back to the home for lunch. The lunch that was prepared by our buddy's father was plentiful, with ranges from meat to vegetables as well as dumplings. I felt guilty as all of us only ate a little portion of food before resuming playing our games.

After the house visit, we headed to the prestigious and famous book shop which consists of 6 levels. There were many books there and our kind Chinese teacher offered to pay the books with her card which allows a discount.

At the end of the day, we headed to the University of Arts where we were taught about the dances and history of the Peking Opera. We were to follow their simple dance routine too and it was quite an interesting experience.



Opera Dancing opportunity at the University of Arts

Playing at our Buddy's house
Day 8: Returning to HangZhou

It was the last day of our trip and we bought tickets to board a high-speed rail from Hefei back to HangZhou. It was an exhilarating experience as I had never boarded a high-speed yet so stable train before. It took only a few hours to reach back to HangZhou and it was time to go home. The 8-day experience was a very memorable one as I learnt alot about China and that I had gained a new profound respect for Chinese. Besides, this High-speed rail also reminded me of the planned high-speed rail project from Singapore to Kuala-Lumpur. By having a high-speed rail, it would save even more time instead of being congested at the causeway and making it even more convenient to travel between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Ticket for the High speed railway

Of course, I will never miss the good times I've had with the fishes HAHAHA. OELP is definitely an experience that I will never forget.







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