After the 6 hour flight from Singapore, we finally touched down in Shang Hai. It was approximately 4:30 pm after we collected our luggage and departed from the airport. On the tour bus, the tour guide briefly explained to us the history of Shang Hai and things we could do in Shang Hai. From the bus ride, I learnt that China was once a fishing village and it developed a lot since then. I also learnt that the French concession was a popular place among foreigners back then, thus it is preserved till today. I also learnt that ε°η¬Όε
was a popular dish in Shang Hai :D. We then travelled to a restaurant to eat dinner.
Our first dinner in Shang Hai :)
After dinner, we went to the bund, which is a popular tourist attraction in China. We were greeted by vibrant and colorful lights when we reached the bund. Everyone looked on with awe at the bright lights and the modern buildings that were located along the river. We walked along the river and looked at the banks, important business buildings located along it. After that, we went onto a ferry and were able to take more photos and get to see the buildings located at the bund better.
CID group 5⃣
The bund
During debrief later on in the hotel, our teacher told us more about the bund. We learnt that China was able to have economic growth every year due to the money made by the the bund. In terms of tourism, the bund was able to help China gain money due to the fact that the bund is a popular tourist attraction and tourists would pay money to visit it. (e.g.paying money for the ferry tickets) Also, the bund also has banks and business buildings located along its River and these infrastructures are the backbone of China's economy. I feel that the bund is something like the Singapore River, because both places are tourist attractions and both places have important buildings and infrastructures located along the river. Tourists who go to these places would know how wealthy and economically strong a country is by looking at the bands and important businesses located in the country. Local banks and international banks are found along the river and thus illustrates the strong economy of China since China has its own banks. Multiple business buildings also highlight the fact that China was able to do business with other countries and have people from other countries come to China to do business. Many are attracted to the banking finance sector of Shang Hai. Local business buildings also show that China is strong in terms of economy. Shang Hai is indeed an important city for economic growth.
π 2nd day in China (Yangzhou) π
We woke up early today because we needed to travel to Yangzhou and the bus journey was 4 hours long.
We went to the Chinese paper cutting museum, geyuan garden and the grand canal on that day. We also went to a local supermarket there. It was raining throughout the day and although everyone was feeling really cold and tired, we still managed to get through the day leaning new things. I felt that the class really displayed class spirit on that day because although the rain was pretty heavy at certain times of the day, many of us offered to share our umbrellas with those who didn't have one. To that, I would like to say that I'm really proud to be part of 2I.
In the Chinese paper cutting museum, we learnt to cut up really thin paper into intricate designs and it was really hard for me because somehow, I always manage to do badly in art. However, with the guidance of the people there and cutting according to the lines indicated, I managed to produce a decent piece of artwork. They also gave us a pair of gold and sharp scissors that had intricate designs as a gift to us.
We also observed the beautiful scenery and plants in geyuan garden. Geyuan garden had plenty of greenery and also had a lot of rock structures in it. It was beautiful, as it was also home to an extremely wealthy guy who lived in the past. The house itself was huge, with its kitchen and bedrooms separated from one another. It was preserved really well and visitors could go into the house and really know how it felt like to live as a wealthy person in the past.
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My CID group and I in front of geyuan garden
We also went to the grand canal and we cruised down the grand canal in a boat and was able to observe the little things that make the canal beautiful and the scenery around it. While on the boat, there was also a documented guide about the grand canal and the history of the grand canal was explained thoroughly in the video.
Scenery observed when on the boat on the grand canal.
During debrief, we compared the difference between Shanghai and Yangzhou and also talked about the importance of preserving Chinese heritage.
The most obvious difference between Yangzhou and Shanghai would be the pace of life. The pace of life in Shanghai is faster than in Yangzhou. In Yangzhou, there are many places that indicate that Yangzhou has a slower pace of living, for example, Yangzhou has more tourist attractions that focuses on scenery and Chinese heritage. Yangzhou has tourist attractions such as geyuan garden, grand canal, slender west lake and 24 bridges that focuses on greenery. However in Shanghai, there are tourist attractions such as the oriental pearl tower, chenhuangmiao, Shanghai urban planning centre and Shanghai museum which indicates that the pace of life there is faster, since there is a higher level of technology used.
Shanghai is also more modernized than Yangzhou. Shanghai is more modernized as there are many foreigners going there to do business since it is a thriving business port. Thus, it is modernized because of the economy there.
Toilets in Shanghai are also cleaner, because there are more tourists going there and having cleaner public areas would leave a better impression on the tourists.
Also attractions such as the Chinese paper cutting museum in Yangzhou is also preserved due to the fact that the government wants to preserve heritage. It is preserved so that the Chinese would still be in touch with traditional beliefs. However, there are lesser tourist attractions in Shanghai that preserves heritage.
Tourist attractions in Yangzhou focuses more on greenery and Chinese heritage.
We also compared the stuff that could be found in China's supermarket but couldn't be found in Singapore's supermarket. We saw that a four poster bed was on sale in the supermarket there and beds are not sold in Singapore's supermarket.
Also, we found that the supermarket there did not sell nerf guns or milo powder, products that are common to us Singaporeans. We later found out the reason for the lack of imported goods such as milo powder and beef guns was due to the fact that China was strong enough economically to produce their own products. Products produced by them would be much cheaper as compared to imported goods since goods are produced in China instead of being transported from other countries. We also found that oil, water and meat was much cheaper there as compared to Singapore since Singapore's oil, water and meat are imported and would be more expensive.
π« 3rd and 4th day in China (Yangzhou) ( school immersion)π«
Science assessment books that would be written in English in Singapore are in Chinese.
Local market visit
Donguan street 
Group selfie feat. annoying chicken
We went to shuren school on these two days so that we can gain more insight into the Chinese students' lives. We also went to a local bookstore on the fourth day.
We walked around shuren school with guidance from the teacher and principal there. We realized that there was actually a park-sized garden in their school and their school was quite big. We also observed how a Chinese lesson was conducted there. Aside from that, we also met our buddies and exchanged gifts with them. We also learnt how to write calligraphy and also had a wushu lesson with them. They were really interested and willing to learn more during the wushu lesson and I felt that they could perform better than us. We also had a competition with the students in their school and there was a basketball match between their school and our school. Although we lost the match, I felt that we displayed more school and class spirit throughout the match by cheering for our friends and I felt that that was what mattered the most. The most exciting part of the school exchange would have to be the watching the performances shuren school has put up for us and also performing our performance to them. We could truly showcase our hard work since we put in a lot of time and effort into putting up the performances. I felt quite nervous before the performance but the entire process of performing for the students if shuren school was really fun:)
Garden (more like park ) in their school
Shuren school
My buddy and her friends with me
Class performance
Through this experience, I have really seen what it is like to study in Yangzhou. There are many differences in studying in a school in Singapore as compared to studying in a school in Yangzhou.
* Class participation*
In Yangzhou, students are more participative than in Singapore because students are willing to participate actively in class while in Singapore, students are called on by their teachers.
*Mode and duration of travel*
My buddy also told me that she either bikes or walks to school and the journey only takes her 10 minutes. However in Singapore, I would know of many who would take public bus and MRT to school and the time taken to travel to school would be close to an hour.
* Group projects and individual work *
There were little group projects done in China and most work done is mostly individual. Perhaps it's because there are more people in China and students thus have more competition to become better.
*School spirit*
We also displayed more school spirit than the Chinese from the school even though they had more people to cheer on their basketball team against ours.
*Food served*
Lunch there was served by lunch ladies and it was compulsory for meals there to comprise meat, soup vegetable and fruit. It is vastly different from Singapore where we could buy our own food and can also buy sugary drinks and unhealthy food.
Lunch in shuren school is different from what we would get in Singapore.
Also, when we went to the local bookstore, we saw that there were many Korean and Japanese books that was on sale. This shows that there are many Korean and Japanese who lives in China. This might be because people from different countries come to China to do business or seek better opportunities. Those books might also be on sale so that the Chinese would be able to learn new languages so that they would be able to work in Korea or Japan. We also found calligraphy paper and chaptehs on sale and these items are sold so that tradition and culture would be preserved. The bookstore also had little English books except for assessment books and thus shows that the Chinese there hardly read English books for leisure. The most interesting observation that I have made about the bookstore would be the fact that they sell books about our founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew. My inference would be that the Chinese people looks up to our founding father and thus books about him, about our nation can be found in local bookstores in China.
Science assessment books that would be written in English in Singapore are in Chinese. Mr Lee's memoir is found in the local bookstore.
π 5th day in China (Yangzhou)π
On this day, we went to the local market, slender west lake and 24 bridges, zhuziqing residence and donguan street.
The local market was vibrant, with peddlers setting up mats on the floor and persuading people to buy their crafts. As the name suggests, it was truly a "local market visit" for us, without souvenirs to buy since it catered to the locals.There were pet shops, pottery shops, shops that sold plants and even a mini aquarium. Suffice to say, the local market emitted a positive and lively vibe.
Next, we headed to slender west lake and 24 bridges and we were given 2 hours there to admire the greenery there. I thought that 2 hours would be too much to walk through the park, but the duration proved to be just right. Our guide told us that many poets were inspired by the beautiful scenery there and composed poems based on the slender west lake. It was beautiful there and there was a lot of greenery. Our class took a class photo( excluding the boys) on the 24 bridge because there was 24 steps on that bridge and our class had 24 girls so. Each girl stood on one step:)
Slender west lake and 24 bridges
After that, we went to the zhuziqing residence to know more on how zhuziqing lived and how he came up with inspiration to write so many Chinese novels. We learnt there that zhuziqing wrote many well known Chinese novels, not only θε½±, which my class was familiar with since our Chinese teacher promoted it endlessly.
Zhu Zi Qing residence
We went to donguan street next, and I bought most of my souvenirs for my family and friends there. However, I felt that it wasn't a waste of money as it was money well spent:) Also, my friend also insisted to buy a toy chicken (I really have no idea why) even though it was such a waste of money and has no practicality. It had many quaint shops tucked away in alleys there and it was really fun to venture the street together with my CID group. Throughout this trip, we also reminded each other to carry our bags in front of us so that pickpockets would not have easy access to have valuables. I felt that among all the places that we were brought to to buy souvenirs, this was the best place among the others. One shop that was really popular among my class was the tea shop.
During debrief, we discussed the importance of preserving heritage. The Zhu Zi Qing residence and slender west lake could easily be demolished and be built into infrastructure that would be more useful economically. There were other parks in China and parks do not make as much money as banks. However, slender west lake and 24 bridges were preserved for a reason since the government did not demolish it. The reason why they are not demolished is because the government does not want the Chinese to lose their Chinese roots and forget their heritage. Zhu Zi Qing's residence was preserved because he was the pride of Yangzhou and he represents Yangzhou through his novels and slender west lake was preserved because it has a rich history behind it and has a deep sense of Chinese culture.We thus understood the importance of preserving heritage from this.
☀️ 6th day in China (Shanghai) ☀️ 
Italian restaurant found here.
Our class behaved badly today due to the fact that we were ignorant and did not practice situational awareness. We were all so busy taking pictures at tourist attractions that we ignored the tour guide multiple times when he was explaining to us about a particular place. We also obstructed people's way because of that. When we were told to clear our rubbish on the bus, few heeded his advice and litter was thus strewn all over the bus. I guess everyone's spirits were dampened but we were all disappointed in our actions. We thus learnt the importance of situational awareness from today's trip.
We travelled back to Shanghai today and we had to wake up super early again.
We went to Chenghuang Miao first and once again, we could find many shops that sold souvenirs and it was really crowded there. It was really lively and the architecture of the temple was really grand. We also spotted multiple Starbucks shops there and the price of coffee there was about the same as Singapore. It was probably due to the fact that Starbucks is a company that is established overseas and the prices of coffee there is defiantly much higher than what one would get from a local coffee shop.
Chenghuang Miao ( really crowded as shown above)
Next, we went to the oriental pearl tower and it was quite terrifying when we had to walk on a transparent platform and get to see everything below us when we were that high up. From the oriental pearl tower, we could see all the way to Taiwan and it was definitely an interesting experience. I remember being really scared and thinking of all the worst case scenarios if the glass platform suddenly gave way beneath our feet. I felt that being in the lift and getting to over 200 stories all the way up to the place with the glass platform was a cool experience too.
My CID group and Mr Dela Cruz on the oriental pearl tower.
After that, we went to Tian Zi Fang and the Old French concession. Tian Zi Fang is an alley that sells souvenirs and decorative goods at a slightly higher price than donguan street and Chenghuang Miao. I felt that it was a quaint place because stuff that was sold there focused less on touristy souvenirs, instead Tian Zi Fang sold more unique handicraft.
The Old French concession was an interesting place as it was an indication that westerners used to reside in China in the past. I feel that it still caters to the westerner's preferences now because there were many food stores that would be commonly found in western countries. (E.g Godiva) It's architecture follows that of those in western countries and walking down the streets of the old French concession really does make one feel as if they are in a western country.
We also went to Shanghai science and technology museum, and there were many wax figures of animals from different parts of the world. There was also plaques in front of the animals that displays information about the animal so that we would have more knowledge about them. The experience was like going to the zoo, with real life animals replaced with wax figures of animals that couldn't move or respond.
Failed group selfie π
Wax figurine of goats at the Shanghai science and technology museum
✈️ 7th day in China (Shanghai) ✈️
Pottery found in the museum.
Traditional Chinese costume back in the olden days.
Alas, all good things must come to an end and in a blink of an eye, our oelp trip has ended. We were all sad that we would never get such an opportunity to travel overseas with our class, 2I anymore. I really felt that our class have bonded so much throughout this trip and I know that the memories that have been created throughout this trip would never be forgotten.
On the last day, we went to qibao ancient town and Shanghai museum. Qibao ancient town sold souvenirs and I felt that it was less of a touristy place as compared to donguan street and Chenghuang Miao. Although all these places sold souvenirs and what not, qibao ancient town was more localized. There were many shops that sold all items for 10 yuan. Aside from that, we also saw shops that had Chinese traditional costumes and provided photography services. I found that interesting, as that can't be found in other places.
Qibao ancient town
Shanghai museum was fascinating, as it houses many intricate and detailed ancient art pieces and pottery. Interesting fact about this museum is that the brochures provided there were printed in multiple languages such as English , Chinese and Korean as it is a really famous attraction and perhaps tourists from many different countries go there. All of the items were ancient and dated back to centuries ago. I found the art work most interesting, as artists then really depicted what life was like back then.
Finally, it was time to head off to the airport and return to Singapore. On the bus while headed to the airport, I could feel that everyone was really reluctant to leave China because we know that our class, 2I would never get this chance to bond with each other already. Although feeling sad to leave China, I also felt happy because I know that I have just passed an important milestone that I would remember forever in the years that I'm in RV. With that in mind, I smiled and vowed to myself that I would remember this trip forever.
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