Overall reflection (Russell Tan)

 

Day 1:

We arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport in the evening. Excitement buzzed around- for it was our first overseas learning trip together. Upon arriving the airport, we collected our baggage and headed down to the coach waiting for us in the carpark. Through heavy eyelids, we were mesmerized by the night view of shanghai- we watched in fascination as a skyscraper blasted into a myriad of colors. We had our dinner- our first dinner, and in fact, our first dinner together in shanghai. We soon settled into the hotel and not long after, fell into deep, peaceful lumber.

Day 2:

Groggily, we dragged ourselves down to breakfast, for myself, I ate a bun, some dough fritters and drank some juice. We soon arrived in the chenghuangmiao. I was intrigued by the place- it inculcated both traditional and new together- temples stood firm on the grounds, dragonflies swarmed the ponds, people took a breather in the pagoda, while others were shopping. There were many trendy clothes and gadgets, and we could not help ourselves but to snag a few items on the way. We bought a few peanut candies that were claimed to soothe our throats- turns out, it was true! We drove past the French concession, coming to a stop at the bund. Skyscrapers towered before us, and we could not help but to snap a few pictures. We also went to the shanghai book city, which stood seven levels tall. The merchandise ranged from Chinese literacy books to medical books, medical books to Chinese’s’ myths and legends, this to the various CDs lined up on the sixth level. There were even English classics, including authors like Shakespeare, mary shelly and etc. I feel that the book city is like the bookstore, borders, in Singapore. Customers were able to flip through the books and browse through them. We then went to Nanjing road. I realized that there were numerous high end shops there, and was different from the common shopping districts in shanghai.

Day 3:

We arrived at the shanghai Nanyang High School, late. Traffic jams and delays were our excuse, but the main reason, was our inefficiency and time management. We were further ashamed when the principal stood, anxiously waiting for us to arrive. Not displaying a hint of annoyance, he greeted us warmly. Introductions were made with the students there and we fell into chatty banter as we got taught on how to make a sweet smelling bag, also known as香包. It was said to repel insects and pests. A student later brought us up for a tour around the school. The students were organized, and they walked in a quick but orderly fashion. I learned that they ate their lunch in their classroom, and that they used computers which were held in glass cases in the classrooms. After the immersion, we went to the Haidilao Hotpot restaurant. We were excited as we had received good reviews on both the service and the food there. However we were a little dismayed and felt that it was too overrated. We felt that the waiters were biased, for the table with the teachers and the principal was served more food than our table.

Day 4:

I did not attend the school immersion today as I felt a little sick and had to get a little rest. I learned later that they attended the Chinese students’ lessons. However they later found out that the lesson had been taught before and had felt cheated. Nevertheless, they could not bear to part ways with the Chinese students, not before singing立化情. They later went to the dreamworks company, where they experienced how to make various cartons, one of which, the ever popular “Kongfu Panda”. They even got a little sneak peak of the upcoming movie! After that, I was feeling better and decided to join them to the visit to Fudan University. We met some RV seniors there, who gave us a little tour of the school. I realized that despite their not as developed facilities, Fudan was able to produce top students all over the world. Through this, I learned that if we worked hard and persevered, no matter the facilities, we will get good results. We then went to the Wenmiao road, where we got a little insight of the backyards of the chinese’s homes. Their homes were really crammed, and the back ally was quite dirty.

Day 5:

Today we left for Hangzhou in a coach, which took around to hours. In the afternoon, we went to the Zhejing University International Design Institure. The school was quite big and well facilitated.

Day 6:

On our second last day, we went to the west lake, which was picturesque. It was calm, peaceful. We also went to the Leifeng Pagoda. I learned that there was an older pagoda, but it was burned down. A new pagoda was later built. The pagoda was very tall- it even has a lift! As the lifts were too crowded, we decided to take the stairs. It was tiring and long, but was worth it! We got a view of the west lake, and could not help but to take a lot of pictures. We also went to the broken bridge, where we learned that the bridge was not actually broken, but was named after a family named 断. We later went to the yuefei mausoleum. There were statues of two men in a cage, with a sign hung above the statues, asking people not to spit onto the statues. I learned that these two men had caused the death of yuefei, who was an honourable man who had contributed a lot to china.

Day 7:

Today is the last day and we went to the Qibao Ancient town. It was very crowded and the smell of 臭豆腐 hung in the air. We later went to tianzifang, which was quite different from the rest of the shopping districts we went to. It was an art zone and the shops were selling various jewelry and clothes which highlighted the artsy features. We then took a flight back to Singapore. I feel that this trip was a meaningful one as we were exposed to the different cultures of china. We also learned to appreciate the things we have in life.

Overall personal OELP trip reflection (Jia Chen)

Day 1-

At the start of the trip while we were gathering at Changi Airport, I felt very excited as this was the start, the very start of the journey I would have with my friends and teachers, to shanghai, a place I have not been to even though I have been to other parts of China before.During the flight, i kept on picturing what would the rest of the trip be like. I started to think of a modernized and busy city with many ppl on the streets. Tall shining skyscrapers like singapore, and maybe even numerous sites of construction. However, when I got to see it for myself and not through imagination, it did not differ much from my imagination, except that there were not many pedestrians on the streets, possibly becos it was late in the night. First, we had our dinner at this restaurant. It looked quite nice on the outside, and the interior was quite special. The meal there was overall still not bad, although the 小笼包was not that nice, and the vegetables were quite salty, coupled with the fact that we had to finish all of it, but we still had our fill. Our hotel looked plain on the outside but plush inside. The lobby looked quite interesting to me, and the hotel rooms are clean and cosy even though maxsaid it sucks when I showed him the photos. It was just a little different compared to our hotels in singapore. 

Day 2-

We visited the Cheng Huang Miao. It was a classic example of a chinese temple with many statues and inscriptions of Buddhism. There, we looked through and found it to be quite an interesting place. As modern day students, we do not get much exposure to religions, not mention having the time and effort to put down schoolwork and visit a temple. Later in the afternoon, we visited the Book City, where we were met with a whole array of books, as spectacular as libraries. There, I managed to find a few books that were quite interesting and bought them. After that, we visited Nanjing Road, which was a whole street of shopping, in a very big contrast from the old and historic aura that Cheng huang Miao gave out. 

Day 3-

Today we went to the Shanghai Nanyang High School, where we entered a room to listen to a speech given by the teacher on the history of both China and the school. After the speech, we interacted with the students from the high school even though we were able to communicate with them, it still proved to be quite a challenge when they asked us a few chim questions in chinese! After all, they were a few years older than us... After the endeavor in the Shanghai Nanyang High School, we went to Hai Di Lao to have our lunch. With the experience in Hai Di Lao, I can say that the service they provided us was exceptional, but the food provided was just a bit little. Following, we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, to learn more about Shanghai's urban planning and history. We could see the differences of each part of Shanghai through the help of a large map. Through this trip, we could understand how China was slowly transforming into a modern and urbanized country. 

Day 4-

Today was also another visit to the Shanghai Nanyang High School, but this time we were given a full tour of the whole school and also took part in their morning exercise. After that, we attended their lessons of every subject, and we found out about their attentiveness and alertness to the teachers lesson, which left us in awe. After leaving the school, we went to dreamworks company building, which was a place of plush and high tech. Seeing a lot of pictures of awesome cartoons and movies made us even more excited during our tour of the building and lessons of how the pictures and animations were produced. 

Day 5-

This was the day that we left Shanghai for Hangzhou, and our first destination was Qinghefang. There, we walked through the old and narrow streets filled with many vendors selling all sorts and kinds of things, both traditional and modern. Walking through the busy and squeezy streets was a joy, occasionally popping into different shops to see what was inside. It was a wonderful time to relax and enjoy the trip. Today was also the day where we had to bade goodbye to our hilarious and informative tour guide, and we would be having another tour guide to lead us through the next two days. 

Day 6-

We visit the Yue Fei Mausoleum, where the famous words"精忠报国" appeared at every corner of the place. We visited the place with much awe, seeing the many pictures and statues of the hero, Yue Fei. After this visit of the Yue Fei Mausoleum, we went to the West Lake to enjoy the scenic view of the lake and its surroundings. Also, we got to find out a story of how somebody fell and drowned in the west lake, that left some of us in fear I guess. At night, we got to see a show of never ending exhilaration and interesting performances. However, I have to admit that most of us fell asleep when given the ambient surrounding of darkness, air conditioning and a comfy chair :) 

Day 7-

It was the last day of the trip and we went to both the Qibao guzhen and Tianzifang. It was both great areas of shopping and even though it was hard  to find something to buy for ourselves, we still enjoyed the experience of walking through the streets nevertheless. With a happy ending, I can conclude that not only did the trip go well for us, it also was a successful trip of both learning and enjoyment. 

Overall trip reflection by Sze Yi

Overall trip reflections

DAY 1: After the plane landed in Shanghai Pudong Airport, we went off on the bus with the tour guide to have our dinner. During the trip, the tour guide patiently told us and explained some of the unique things that we might catch sight of in our stay here. While hearing him, we also enjoyed the beautiful sight as the bus drive past several incredible infrastructure. Needless to say, the food at the restaurant was pretty good and that was when we realized that it seemed that we were the only ones there, the tour guide then told us that most restaurants in china would normally close at 8pm. When we finally reached our hotel, I was very tired but yet happy that finally I was in china.

DAY 2: We started the day by visiting Cheng huang miao. It is a temple located within the old walled city of Shanghai, however it was surprising to see the familiar sight of Starbucks in the temple.  When we were given time to shop to our hearts' content in Cheng huang miao, this was when I realised it was not like any other temple that I have been to before! There was a great variety of shops in the temple. After all the shopping, we finally left to go to our next location, the Bund. Even thought the sun in the sky was extremely hot, the spectacular view made us change our minds about running off to find shelter. We ended up taking many group pictures. We headed to Book City after that. It was a huge building of seven floors in total, which contains so many books that it was hard to take in after being used to the book stores in Singapore. I bought a bookmark there as a souvenir as the design of the bookmark was so intricate that I just couldn't stop myself. Next we went to the Nanjing Road Pedestrain street.  We were also allowed to shop there and I found out after some time strolling along its streets that these street stores are more ' modern ' as compared to the Cheng Huang Miao and some of the stores are well known such as Forever 21. Today was really a day that was filled with fun, especially since we were allowed to wander around to have a closer look of the area and to shop freely. 

DAY 3:  Today was a special day! This is because we would be going to Shanghai Nanyang High School for a visit, however this meant that we would also have to get ready earlier.  It was pretty embarrassing when we reached the school late as there were some traffic jams during the journey. I felt terrible when I saw the teacher in charge waiting for us and when we got down, he even welcomed us with a huge smile on his face despite us being late. He brought us over to a room where he showed us slides that could let us better understand their culture. Soon after, our buddies entered the room after their lessons were over and were enthusiastically striking up conversations with us in no time. After this was a fun activity where we had to build a paper tower with only an A4 size paper and nothing else. Despite the fun we had at the high school, we had to leave at lunch to have our lunch at a famous restaurant called Hai Di Lao. The service that was rendered to us at lunch was excellent as the waiters were thoughtful. I felt that that experience would be one that I won't forget. We then went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall with a full stomach and a happy smile. The tour guide would often stop us and point out the special points in the hall so that we would be able to understand more. This visit also made me realize the importance of improving to keep up with other countries like china which are quickly developing. 

DAY 4: We left the hotel to go to Shanghai Nanyang High School like the day before, however this time I felt sad instead of the usual happiness as it would be our last time visiting them. When we reached, we had to go to the parade square where we would see the students assembly which included a workout which we later found out that this was a daily routine. I was amazed at the students' coordination and the way they got in line so quickly and without any unnecessary delay. We went to their classrooms to observe their studying environment after that. The students were attentive and could follow the teacher's words while I encountered difficulties trying to catch up to their speed. When the students were asked questions, they would stand up without any hesitation and straight out say the answers or at least their opinion to the question. This made me realize how fast paced the students were as compared to most students in Singapore. After saying our thanks to out buddies and the teacher in charge, we went to one of china top universities, the Fudan University where we met up with some of our seniors who would be our guides to this school. We were given a tour around the school where our seniors told us more about it and it's students. The schools facilities seemed to be of quite an old age however this did not affect it's rank of being one of the best universities in China. After being told by the seniors their experience of being in the school, I realized that the students there were astonishingly diligent even so to the point that they would reach the classrooms almost 2 hours before the lessons starts so that they could study there. I felt that we have to buck up on being hard working as students from Singapore after seeing their attitude towards learning new things.

DAY 5:  This would be our last day in shanghai. When the 3 hour bus journey was over, we finally reached Hang Zhou. After having our lunch, we arrived in Zhejiang University. It was a university that was concentrated on the merging of design with technology, art and business, where there were many factors and key elements to industrial design. The principle there gave us an introduction to his university through slide shows to further let us understand. After leaving the university, we visited the Qinghefang Ancient Streets where we were given free time to shop again. I felt that it somewhat resembled the Cheng huang miao during our time there. At the end of the day and when dinner was over, our tour guide said his goodbyes as another tour guide would be replacing him. All of us felt sad at this parting as he was a very kind and patient tour guide who would not only crack jokes with us, he would also explain all the locations without getting angry at us even when we did not listen at times. 

DAY 6: Today we went to the yue fei mausoleum. The tour guide explained to us more about the mausoleum and also more about yue fei himself and his contribution to China. When we walked to the inner open space in the mausoleum, I saw something that surprised me. There are 4 statues enclosed, kneeling down in front of the tomb of Yuefei. The tour guide then told us that they were the ones who framed Yuefei, causing his death. The sign above them read "请勿吐痰", meaning to tell the public not to spit on these statues, showing how much the public hated these four figures such that they would even spit on statues that represented them.  After this, we visited the West Lake where we boarded a ferry and went to view the scenery there. On the ferry, the tour guide than began to talk more about the West lake, speaking of a story where it showed how muddy and dangerous falling into the West lake was. When we alighted the ferry, we began to climb the Leifeng Pagoda as there were many other tourists there hence clogging up the lift to the top. It was worth the climb because when we stood at the top, we could see the magnificent view of the West lake from above. Next we went to another part of the Qinghefang Ancient Street where it was quite modernized and began to shop. After that, we had our dinner and left to watch the show , “西湖之夜”. It was a great show with many jaw dropping performances, some of which seemed to require the performers to be very careful as it was very dangerous. It was a show which seemed to make me forget everything else with its great variety of performances, and I enjoyed myself greatly.

DAY 7: This will be our last day in China. After reaching shanghai by bus again, we went to the Qibao Ancient Town. After strolling through the Gibao Ancient Town, I understood the importance of preserving places built in the past despite the troubles which might have been faced through the process of preservation. We will not be able to find an exact replica of this town anywhere else in this world, and that is what makes this ancient town unique. This is because it contains ancient style architecture from the Northern Song Dynasty and this town witnessed great development in the Song Dynasty and flourishment in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, thus it is different from the other towns. By preserving such a town, this would allow the next generation to experience the places that their forefathers lived in and understand more of their culture itself by observing the environment this town has. Then, we set off for Tianzifang. The items sold there were all pretty expensive so even when we were allowed to shop there, I did not buy anything as I had a tight budget. After that, we went straight to the airport where we alighted the plane with heavy hearts and flew back to Singapore. All in all, I felt that this was a enjoyable and eye-opening trip and I was glad that I had the chance to go on such a trip that would let me learn more and enjoy myself at the same time. 

Overall reflection by Yuyang

Unfortunately I didn't go for the trip but I did learn a lot from my group mates who went there and gathered quite a lot of information when preparing for the presentation.

First of all,China students really had a tight schedule to follow when studying.My group mates told me that all students of china have to go through高考 which is a really tough examinations and millions of students aimed to get into the top universities.Competition is extremely stiff and everyone there really worked very hard to achieve their targets.They wake up at around 6 and leave the school at around 9 every night.They work double as hard.This makes me realise how lucky i am to study in Singaoire whereby there's a smaller population thus less stress.Also,the students in china did not have CCAs,all they do ins to study all day long.Here in Sinagore,we have a school life that's much more engaging than in China.I find it true because I had a cousin who had just been through 中考(O-level) and he told me that he envied me for being able to come to Singapore to study.This is extremely close to my life and i am glad that my group members and I shared the same point on we should all learn from the china students.This inspires me to work harder because it made me realise how stiff the competition is between Singapore and china.

Secondly,I would like to reflect about the food there.Food to me is actually a representation of the culture that the certain province have.I told my group members to take a picture of the food that they eat everyday.They told me it's just too oily.Most of my group members came from 福建 originally and that province is actually known for its preference over health food that don't require that much oil and salt.It made me realise that although we might all like Chinese food in overall, but when it branches down into each province's preference to the way that how the food is cooked, they can have quite different taste buds.Same same but different.

Thirdly,my group members told me that the streets of Shanghai are actually quite dirty but it had been engaged in recycling efforts.This made me recalled what my grandpa said about this issue.He said that both littering and recycling require one took take up a certain type of initiave.Most people recycled due to the belief that recycling is the new black.At his point of view he thinks that recycling is more troublesome than stop littering.Thus he find it weird to see people obsessed with recycling but chose to litter on streets.He said in order to stop littering,a certain amount of fine is needed,just like Singapore.However unlike Singapore,China had a large population to monitor over and a certain proportion of people came from the countryside whereby they don't even get proper educations on social responsiblies.In this way,I feel that Sinagore is doing quite a good job on stopping the act of littering on streets and it's probably thanks to the highly educated population.

Last but not least,I feel that I really regretted not going for the trip as it is a chance for me to better bond with the class.However,I still feel that I learnt a lot of stuff when I linked what my group mates saw and what I had experienced.

Trip advisor

School immersion at Shanghai Nanyang High: 4/5
I think the immersion was very interesting as we got to experience a classroom setting in China. The teachers and students were all very nice and welcomed us warmly. When the teachers saw us getting restless during the talk, they gave us biscuits and mineral water. We also learned more about China schools through interactions with our buddies. But during reflection at night, I learnt that they actually rehearsed the lessons beforehand. It was kind of shocking. I thought that the whole lesson was very genuine and that the immediate answers that the students gave when being asked was very impressive. Never did I imagine that it was all practiced. Nevertheless, it was a nice exchange and I hope they will come to Singapore in the future, so we will be able to tell them about Singapore.

Haidilao Hotpot: 3/5
Personally, I think Haidilao is overrated. Firstly, they only explained the origin of their name to one of the tables. Secondly, our seniors told us that they are workers who will stand beside the table and hand you cloths to wipe your spectacles when there is steam on it and they will also pump soap onto your hands and serve you paper towels to wipe your hands dry. I did not see anybody handing out the spectacle cloths and when I went to wash my hands, there was nobody there. However, the food was quite tasty and the seats were very
comfortable. The workers also allowed us to put our bags on a nearby empty table although it could be used to house other customers instead.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre: 5/5
The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre is a very interesting place. There are many posters on old and modern Shanghai which are arranged in interesting ways. There is also a very large 3D model of Shanghai. We were even able to see the Shanghai Expo exhibition halls! The whole place was also very clean, which is a plus point.

Qibao Ancient Town 2/5
Qibao Ancient Town in Minhang District is one of Shanghai’s oldest and most famous water towns. It also contains ancient style architecture from the Northern Song Dynasty. This old town is crossed by two water lanes. Around the water lanes, stand a large number of well preserved traditional houses, gardens, temples, shops and restaurants which define the place. The southern part of this old town is filled with traditional restaurants serving various tasty snacks is a paradise for gourmets. Old shops selling art crafts, antiques and calligraphy works occupy the western part. However, there were too many people. The place was very crowded so in order to not get lost, we had to follow the guide tightly behind as we walked through the whole street. As a result, we were not able to shop or look around on our own. Personally, I thought that it was too rush. We should have went on a weekday so there will be less people and we would be able to explore the place.

Tianzifang 5/5.
In tianzifang, the old-style buildings, narrow alleys, and less touristy atmosphere were fascinating. There is more than 200 diverse small businesses such as cafes, bars, restaurants, art galleries, craft stores, design houses and studios, and even French bistros. Most of the shops are still reflective of old Shanghai style while there are also areas with modern facilities, successfully combining both modern and traditional appeal. I feel that the place was very cheery. There was bright colours everywhere and the crafts were handmade so intricately. It was really exciting to look around. However, there is no such places in Singapore. I think Singapore should do more to encourage people to appreciate the arts, like building a place like Tianzifang. I would love to go there.

Bund 4/5
At the Bund,there is a spacious walkway for sightseeing runs atop a long retaining wall on the Bund, paved with colorful tiles and dotted with flower beds and lighting. It is a good place for a leisurely stroll and a view of the Huangpu River. I feel that the Bund fully exhibits the magnificence of the various buildings of different architectural styles. Standing by the railings, we could see the beautiful view of the scenery of Pudong Area and Huangpu River. The trip to the Bund made me realize that it was actually a symbol of both the old and new Shanghai. The unique geography around the Bund and that geography's effect on the economies of Shanghai and China throughout the past one hundred years gives the Bund special cultural significance. There was not much trees so it was very hot but the cool breeze made up for it. The place was windy and it felt very refreshing.

Fudan University 5/5
Fudan University has a very big campus and nearly 44,300 students. Unlike NUS, all the students there have to travel around using bicycles or motorbikes. The senior also told us that the toilets in some buildings are just holes for you to do your business in and that it smells. This made me think why don't they upgrade the toilets? I understand they want to preserve the old school campus which is why they do not renovate the school, but just the toilets? Then, students like my senior will not have to avoid going to the toilet and rush to another building just to go to the toilet. The seniors also told us that it was very stressful as competition was tough. The Chinese students are very hardworking and spend every minute of their time studying. They also hold advantage in Chinese and Math. Our seniors have to work doubly hard to keep up. This made me realise that I have to work hard. When I go into the workplace in the future, I will have to compete with a lot of smart people too. If I do not work hard, I will be on the losing end. This visit to Fudan has motivated me to study hard. It was a worthy trip.

Zhejiang University 4/5
I learnt that Zhejiang University was a combine of 4 different universities, thus the very very big campus. I also find the courses in ZJU quite interesting. As it is a school that focuses on design, the students had to work around the school and find out which places can be improved during orientation. It was a brilliant way for students to familiarize themselves with the school as they walked around and they can also use their designing talent. However, applied students have to go through many tough rounds of selection before they will be accepted in to the school. I learnt a lot but personally, I felt that there was a tad too many schools we visited. As we did not get to interact with any students from ZJU, we did not really understand how the life of the students were like and if it was similar to those in Fudan.


SSAW Hotel Boyang hotel 4.5/5
上海柏阳君亭酒店

Classy exterior
Unique lobby
Bookshelf in lobby
Gym at fifth floor
Very dark staircase ( spooky )
Nice hotel rooms, plush




Hangzhou Vina Hotel 4/5
杭州维纳假日酒店

Unique spread for breakfast
Close to the river
Nice rooms
No wifi
Pornographic cards
Well decorated lobby

上有天堂 下有苏航 西湖

Impression West Lake is indeed the reflection of Heaven on the earth. Using water as its stage, mountains as its background,the west lake is indeed a breathtaking place. Featuring local culture of Hangzhou and unique charm of West Lake, the show enables audience to understand Hangzhou culture and history in a natural and vivid way. 

清河坊

At qinghefang,we shopped for a lot of stuff.Sze Yi bought a fan that costed $90 dollars there.It is really a comfortable place that we really enjoyed ourselves in.The smell of 臭豆腐 is very strong and the queue to buy it was long.The store holders there are usually old people and it was easy for us to bargain.

雷峰塔

 We heard that this 雷峰塔 was rebuilt.There was ally of people queuing up to take the elevator to go to the top.Thats why we chose to climb to the 5-stories 雷峰塔.It wasn't a hard journey but it definitely took us some effort.The scenery viewed from above was really breathing-taking was amazed us.It was really a popular a tourist spot.

岳飞庙

岳飞庙 is really a historical place that made us learn about what happened to yue fei and aroused our interests back to the acienct china.

On the second day of the trip, we went to the shanghai urban planning exhibition hall. Upon reaching the shanghai urban planning exhibition hall, I was truly amazed by the size of the gold monument which welcomed our eyes as we first entered the building. The golden monument showcased the modernized buildings, which towered up to the ceiling high above. We then went to the exhibition, which was a floor above. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a huge scale model of the city of Shanghai, showing all existing and approved buildings. We could view the model from alongside or ascend to a gallery running around it for views from above. The model is intended to represent the entire city, including all planned developments. I feel that this exhibit was quite interesting, and we got to learn a bit about China's history, as well as their development progress. I would rate this a 8/10.

Next we went to the shanghai book city. I was wowed by the 7-storied building which stood before us. You could possibly find every book you wanted, in Chinese of course. I was surprised that there were actually English books on the sixth floor. There were many different types of books, ranging from medical books to law books, to short stories. There were also CDs ranging from Chinese to Kpop, in one of the upper floors. The only drawback is that the building is huge, and that we would have to take time searching for the book we wanted. I would rate this 9/10.

After that we went to nanjing road. It was a street filled with shopping malls and we spotted many well-known brands there. However, the things sold there were not cheap so we could not buy much. I would rate this a 7/10.

Reflections (Ying ChenFei)

Day 1: I chose to go on this trip as I found it a new experience and very enriching. This is the first time I am going overseas by plane with my classmates and 2014 being the last year as a class together, I hope that I will be able to know more of my classmates better through this trip. The trip will also allow me to have better knowledge of China's way of life, its culture and history, even experiencing it myself. I also hope to improve my Chinese speaking.

Day 2: We first went to Chenghuangmiao. It is a temple dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan, and now, together with the surrounding streets, are part of a large pedestrian zone dedicated to restaurants and retail. We found two Starbucks outlet there. It was also there that we realised we can do quite a bit of bargaining in China. Next we went to the Bund and French Concession. The view there was very breathtaking as we could see Shanghai's skyline, including the 'bottle opener' building, which I learnt a lot about. I learnt that the original design was a circular aperture at the top of the building, but was replaced by a trapezium when the initial design began facing protests from some Chinese, who considered it too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag. In the afternoon, we went to the Book City. It was seven stories high and filled with books, mostly Chinese books. Lastly, we went to Nanjing Road. It was a street filled with shopping malls and we spotted many well-known brands there. However, the things sold there were not cheap so we could not buy much.

Day 3: Today, we woke up early in the morning to go Shanghai Nanyang High School. Each group was assigned a buddy and my buddy was 小荷. She is 16 years old and an only child. She shared that she wanted a sibling as it was boring by herself sometimes. She also told me more about her school. In RV, we have to follow strict dress codes or we will get punished. Her school has two sets of uniforms, full uniform and half uniform, but unlike RV, the students there can choose what they want to wear to school each day themselves and they can wear any type of shoes, as long as it is covered. They also have lunch together as a class in the classroom, whereas we have it separately in the canteen. I also enjoyed myself looking at them make 香包s and 粽子s. We then went for lunch at Hai Di Lao. I was anticipating the meal as I have heard that their service was extraordinarily good. However, after experiencing it myself, I feel that Hai Di Lao is overrated. Firstly, they only explained the origin of their name to one of the tables. Secondly, our seniors told us that they are workers who will stand beside the table and hand you cloths to wipe your spectacles when there is steam on it and they will also pump soap onto your hands and serve you paper towels to wipe your hands dry. I did not see anybody handing out the spectacle cloths and when I went to wash my hands, there was nobody there. The food was average. Lastly, we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre. There was a 3D model of most of Shanghai and it was very interesting looking at the miniature buildings.

Day 4: In the morning, we went to Shanghai Nanyang High again. This time, my group attended a Mother Tongue lesson. The lesson was on 鲁迅. I tried to read along during their read-alouds but to no avail, I could not catchup. Even what they were discussing in class that day, I had to process it in my mind first before understanding what they said. I realised that I really have to improve my Chinese. After that, Mr Lu brought us to Oriental Dreamworks. There, I saw how movies were created and how much time and effort had to be put in. It was an eye opener for me as I never thought movies were made like that. Next, we went to Fudan University. A few RV seniors and a Dunman High senior gave us a tour around the campus. They also told us the Chinese students are highly competitive and will cram every minute to study. They are also very smart as they are usually the top few from their provinces. Our seniors have to work very hard to keep up with the Chinese students. Our seniors also mentioned that there are bias ness against international students like them but an advantage of going to a school overseas is that you get to know people from other parts of the world, not just Singapore.

Day 5: We went to Zhejiang University today. The campus was really really big. On the bus tour around campus, we saw two stadiums, two libraries, a three stories high canteen and a hospital. There were also separate dormitories for local and international students. From the teachers' talk, I learned that ZJU is a combination of four universities and that 60% of the campus is still under construction. The school focuses on fostering technical research and scientific design in her undergraduates so that they are empowered to create high tech innovations in the workforce upon graduation, changing 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China'. In the afternoon, we went to Qinghefang Ancient Street. As the name suggests, the buildings there are designed like olden shophouses and the things sold there were very 'traditional', like traditional handmade goodies and traditional handmade craft works.

Day 6: We went to many places today. Firstly, we went to the Yuefei Mausolemn. It is commonly know in Chinese as Yuewang Temple. It is a temple built in honor of Yuefei. Inside, kneeling in front of Yuefei and his son's tomb, are four statues. They are Qin Hui, his wife Wang Shi, Moqi Xie and Zhang Jun. They are the ones who trapped and killed Yuefei and his son, Yueyun. These statues are hated by many Chinese, even up till now. We noticed a sign above the statues saying '文明游览，请勿吐痰'. This show that people still hate them to the point that they still spit on them. When we were there, we saw a man who "spat" on the statues too. He did not really spit and but he did the action, showing his disgust. Yuefei's loyal sidekicks were also mentioned in the temple. Next, we went for a cruise around West Lake. We took an 30 minute boat ride and the guide pointed out to us the Broken Bridge and the Leifeng pagoda. I learnt that the Broken Bridge was not broken, but because '断家' lived at the ends of the bridge, the bridge got its name, '断桥'. We then got the chance to climb up to the top of Leifeng Pagoda. The climb was tiring but it was worth it. From the top, we had the full view of West Lake and we could even see the tiny artificial islands in the centre.  I learnt that the pagoda we know now is not the the original one. The original pagoda collapsed in 1924 due to disrepair and was rebuilt in 2002. The pagoda is known worldwide for the Legend of the White Snake, and it was said to be the final abode that the Madame White Snake lived in. In the late afternoon, we went back to Qinghefang as many of us did not have enough time to look through everything the previous day.

Day 7: On our way back to Shanghai, we stopped at Qibao Ancient Town. It was a very crowded place filled with mostly local people. As there were too many people and we had to keep up in order to not get lost, we are not able to look through the shops, but a quick glance shows 'traditional' items were sold. I saw shops selling handmade bags and shoes and popular local food like '臭豆腐'. After lunch, we went to Tianzifang Cultural & Arts Zone. There were small craft stores, coffee shops, and art studios. The things sold there were not cheap at all. However, I like the street as it feels very peaceful, with handcrafted souvenirs and the aroma of coffee everywhere.

China's dilemma(Yuyang )

China's economics have improved a lot during the past few years.They are in fact one of the top in producing the most amount of products in the world.The logo,'made in china' can be seen really often in our everyday lives.However,as the economics soar,their pollution is also getting worse and worse.Beijing is suffering from severe haze recently and the county has to decide whether to go for the profits or their citizens health.