OELP daily reflection

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