DAY 1: Today we departed from Singapore to Shang Hai via flight SQ 832. Upon reaching Shanghai Pudong Airport, we met our tour guide, 黄导游 and we left to have our dinner. It was my first time having a meal at Shanghai, so I was extremely curious about how the food will taste like. On our way to the restaurant, we passed by the Bund and we were amazed to see the night scenery of the Bund. All of the buildings were lighted up beautifully by the building lights. There was even a building that had a rainbow coloured light decoration. At the restaurant, we were able to taste some famous Shanghai delicacies such as the 小笼包. It was extremely delicious. After dinner, we headed to our hotel and rest.
DAY 2: Today we went to the main places of interest in Shanghai. Firstly, we went to the Chenghuangmiao. The Chenghuangmiao is a temple located within the old walled city of Shanghai. We were given some time to wander about Chenghuangmiao. We shopped leisurely, and bargained with shop owners for cheaper prices. Following that, we went to the Bund. The Bund, extending for 1.5km on the shore of the Huangpu River, is an emblem of Shang Hai. A total of 52 tall buildings of various heights tower over the river along the western side of the Bund, looking like a museum of modern world architecture. I was very fascinated by the scenery I saw at the Bund. Next, we went past the French Concession, which was directly opposite the Bund. It was a tall and big westernized building. After that, we went to Book City. It was a seven storey high book store, with lots of books ranging from Chinese language to foreign language. I was amazed by the size of the book store. The books were sold at a reasonably cheap price too. Next we went to the Nanjing Road Pedestrain street. The Nanjing Road is the main shopping street in Shanghai and is one of the world's busiest shopping street. We were also given some time to shop at Nanjing Road. However, we realised that the shops in Nanjing Road were not streetshops like those at Chenghuangmiao. Instead they were famous brands such as Baleno, H&M etc. Therefore we did not buy a lot of things as they were all what we can buy in Singapore. Today was more of a shopping spree that all of us greatly enjoyed.
DAY 3: Today we woke up earlier in order to make it to our partnering school in time at 8.30am. However, due to some delays, we only reached the school at 9am. Despite being late, the Teacher In Charge at Shanghai Nanyang High School was not impatient. Instead he happily welcomed us to the school and brought us to the classroom. He told us to wait for a moment as our buddies were still having their lessons. Once the school bell rang, within minutes our buddies entered the classroom, with smiles and curiosity smeared on their faces. After some interaction with our buddies, they had to go back to class, so they reluctantly waved good bye to us and left. After that the vice principal of the school gave us a speech. The teacher in charge, also known as Mr Lu gave us some videos of Shang Hai to watch for us to deepen our knowledge about China. He thought we were perhaps restless and served us some biscuits and drinks. He even brought us on a mini school tour. Soon, the students' lesson ended. Plenty of students rushed down to the classroom and gave us demonstrations on how to make 香包. Through this activity, we were able to bond closer with our buddies. Not long later, we had to leave the school. We unwillingly boarded the bus and left the school. We went for lunch at a famous restaurant called Hai Di Lao. Hai Di Lao is famous for its good service. When we reached there, the waiters asked if we needed for seats and helped us to put our bags at a nearby table which could be used to house more customers. At the toilet, the waiter also pumped soap for us on our palms and also served us a clean towel to wipe our hands. This service is definitely praise-able. Lastly, we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. There were many modelled like buildings of those at the bund for display at the entrance. The tour guide explained to us the history of how Shanghai became modern and urbanized. There was this part of the exhibition that shows a tiny structure of the entire Shang Hai modern city. It was indeed very fascinating. This visit to the exhibition shows me how fast Shang Hai is developing and it broadened my knowledge on the history of China.
DAY 5: Today we left the hotel early with our luggages and proceeded on a 3 hour bus journey towards Hang Zhou. Once we reached Hang Zhou, we were asked to observe our surroundings while on the bus. The tour guide said that we will be able to spot many red coloured electric bikes on the roads as they are out for rent at cheap prices to the public. In order words, it is also a form of public transportation. He also told us that Hang Zhou has instilled traffic rules so the traffic is not as messy as that in Shang Hai but we still have to be careful while crossing the roads. We went for lunch then after that we departed for Zhejiang University. There was a student from Zhejiang University that welcomed us and led us to a room where other teachers and the 院长 of the University gave us a talk about the university. Then we had a tour around the university on the bus. I was amazed that even though the university is only partially available for use right now, it was still bigger than Singapore's NUS. The University has many good facilities. For example, there were many tracks and even a three storey high canteen. After we left the university, we went to Qinghefang Ancient Streets. We were also given time to wander the streets by ourselves for a while but I thought it was rather boring as the items sold were all very ancient, as the name suggests. Next, we had our dinner at a restaurant where we were able to taste Hang Zhou speciality, which is noodles. The noodles were very delicious. After that we had to wave good bye to our current tour guide, 黄导游 as another tour guide will take over him for our tour in Hang Zhou. We were greatly thankful for his guidance these few days as we were able to gain a lot of new knowledge about China through him.
DAY 6: Today we were able to depart from the hotel at 9.30am. Firstly we went to the Yuefei Mausoleum. Over there the tour guide gave us detailed explanation about the temple and lead us through the entire temple. Something that caught my attention the most was that in front of the tomb of Yuefei, there are two statues of a pair of couple kneeling down on the floor. Their facial expressions seem as though they were very guilty. The tour guide told us that they were the ones who murdered Yuefei. There was a sign above them that read 请勿吐痰. This shows that the Chinese really hated the couple and previously they used to spit on them to show the hatred they have for the couple. After the temple, we visited the West Lake. We rode a boat to cross the West Lake. On the boat, we were told that the West Lake is extremely muddy and once a guy fell into the lake and was never seen again. From the boat, we could see the Leifeng Pagoda being surrounded by the vegetation. We were also able to see the Broken Bridge from the boat. Suprisingly, the Broken Bridge is not broken. It was just named 断桥as there was a family named 断 that lived on the bridge last time. After the boat ride, we took a stroll around a park. Then we went to the Leifeng Pagoda after lunch. We had to climb several flight of stairs just to reach the top of the building. From the peak, we were able to view the entire West Lake. We were utterly amazed by the beautiful scenery. We were given some time to enjoy the magnificent view from the Leifeng Pagoda. Next we went to another part of the Qinghefang Ancient Street to shop as many said yesterday's one wasn't fulfilling. This time, I managed to find more things to buy as the that street was some sort of newer. We had a great time shopping there and I even managed to try China's bubbletea. However, we met quite a few mad men on the streets and some of us were quite shocked by their actions. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel. Today was a great sight seeing day that we all enjoyed.
DAY 7: Today is our last day in China. We dreaded this day the most but still, time has to pass. We boarded the bus again with our luggages back to Shanghai but in between, we visited the Qibao Ancient Town. The tour guide told us that this street will be extremely crowded so, to prevent us from getting lost, we will not be able to wander about by ourselves. The street was indeed very busy. Shop owners were shouting at the top of their lungs to attract customers. It was extremely crowded and we had to squeeze our way through to an old bridge, where we could be able to view the scenery. We were able to witness the old architectures and trees from the bridge. Next we left and continued our journey towards Shanghai. After having lunch in Shanghai,we went to the Tianzifang. Tianzifang is a well-known area for small craft stores. However, the items sold at Tianzifang are quite expensive. Hence, I did not buy anything from Tianzifang. Instead, we went out of Tianzifang and shopped around. There was a shopping centre nearby and we went there instead. It was my first time walking in a shopping centre in China so I was really amazed. I observed that there isn't a lot of difference between a shopping centre in Singapore and in China. I even saw a Bata outlet, which is common in Singapore, in the shopping centre. However, as the shopping centre is currently under renovation, most of the shops at the upper levels were all closed. After shopping, we went to Shanghai Pudong Airport, which marks the end of trip in China. We reluctantly waved good bye to our Tour Guide, Mr Dai. We are also very thankful for his guidance this 3 days in Hangzhou and Shanghai. We unwillingly boarded the plane back to Singapore. Although the trip has ended, I am pretty sure all of us have a lot of memories we will remember forever, new knowledge about China, and lastly, new friends we have made.
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