Wenping overall reflection

25/5 (sunday)

dear parents,

Thank you for sponsoring me for this OELP trip to shanghai and hangzhou. I hope to learn a lot of knowledge and learn how to be responsible for myself. Here in shanghai, i can learn a lot more about the city's history and culture like the peoples way of life and their customs. I hope to imply these knowledge learnt on subjects such as history, geography and social studies. 

26/5 (monday)

I was amazed by the number of people who are selling shoe skates and lasers by the streets as the pricers they are offering us are incredibly low and yet we can still bargain with them. This shows that these street vendors' profit margin is rather high. However shanghai, being a city with a high standard of living, their profits may not be enough to pay their rent and buy they everyday necessities. At chenghuangmiao, i was awestruck by the number of visitors that day as i had always thought that temples were just places of worship where few people goes. However there were quite a huge number of visitors there. While at the shopping area, i found out that the prices there when compared to singapore has minimal difference . Most likely due to it being a tourist attraction area. When visiting the bund, we can see the iconic oriental pearl tower standing in the middle of all the buildings. Which was pretty amazing and is one of the best experiences ive ever had

27/5(tuesday)

While at the immersion school, i realized that they do not have that many modern facilities and buildings as rv. I found out that they dont have a canteen and would consume their food in class. Also, they do not have CCAs , they only have pe in the morning and in between lessons.

While at the the shanghai urban planning exhibition hall, im amazed by how they designed and constructed the models to even the slightest details. It was an eyeopener.

28/5(wednesday)

I used to think that the schools would have long long hallways filled with students and the many people playing basketball and sports.

While at fudan university i can see that the campus is extremely huge as the region we visited was only one part of it when it is already difficult to reach one side to the other side by foot as it will take a very long time. Also, i can see that the undergraduates there are very hardworking as described by the seniors there and very competitive too.

29/5 (thursday)

While at zhejiang university, im amazed at the incredible size of it. Large open fields, parks and large administrative buildings. Also, their facilities comprises of 2 full sized track and fields, many basketball and volleyball courts , hostels with their own shops at level 1, 2 storey high canteen and even a hospital! A pretty good environment for the students there to enjoy their time there.

30/5 (friday)

Today's itinerary included the yuefei mausoleum, a boat ride and leifeng pagoda. The first stop was the yuefei mausoleum and we were told the heroic anecdotes about how yuefei and his army defended the southern Song dynasty from the Jin dynasty up north. And also how he was wrongfully charged with treason and put to death due to the cunning southern song dynasty advisor 秦桧 qinhui and other unloyal generals. At the temple there was a depiction of his mother tattooing in the four characters 精忠报国onto his back. Also, there were kneeling statues of the four people who caused his death, caged up and had signs saying not allowing the public to spit at the statues. This shows the immense hatred on these four people, who will kneel in front of yuefei and his sons tomb forever. Next we went on a boat ride throughout the westlake. We were shown around the beautiful lake and i was utterly amazed by the scenery as we cant find any of this back in singapore. Lastly, we were at the leifeng pagoda and how the spirit was released when the original pagoda collapsed due to the failure of its structure integrity. The debris of the original pagoda currently resides underneath the new one and many tourist thrown coins into it wishing for good luck.at the top level of the pagoda, we can view the entire lake. The view was mesmerizing and we can also see the city skyline from there. Overall today is a very fruitful trip as we learnt about the many origins of chinese folklore and history.

31/5 

After breakfast, we left for shanghai to catch our flight back to singapore. En route, we stopped at 七宝古镇qi bao ancient town that has been turned into a tourist attraction. The entire place was cramped up with peopl as the street was lined up with stalls and could only fit 2 or 3 shoulder to shoulder. It was difficult to catch up with our class as the often stopped to look at the tasty food and items the stalls are selling. Entirely, the place was not a very good location to visit as it is a very small and cramped up area, vulnerable to pickpockets. Also all the stuff sold there are not extremely special and could be found anywhere else. Finally, we reached our last destination : pudong international airport. I feel very sad to leave and i would miss the time spent with my class. The entire trip allowed me to learn about the history and culture of this part of china and it also exposed me to the dangerous environment outside the comfort of singapore.