Overall Reflection & Daily Reflection

Overall reflection:

From this trip, I learn more about Shanghai and Yangzhou, in terms of their economy, history, culture and education. I also learn that despite both being cities in China, they have their own unique culture and history but at the same time, have their similarities so both are literally same same but different. This overseas learning experience has indeed increased my knowledge of China and better understand China's unique culture and its place in the world. 

The knowledge that I brought back from China to Singapore makes me understand that China has an impact on Singapore. Singapore can learn more from China and strike a balance between modernisation and preservation of our own unique culture. Nowadays, Singapore keeps on going with the fast-paced urbanized world and strives to improve our lives in Singapore but Singapore seems to have forgotten about her past and need to preserve her unique culture. Even Singaporeans like me seem to move on with our fast-paced lives and forget to sit back and appreciate Singapore's past and how she gets to improve with our ancestors' hard work and efforts. As Singapore continues to modernize, I wonder if we will even have our own unique culture in the future years. Singapore might just be a modernized beautiful country on the outside and she will be nothing Singaporean but a combination of other different countries on the inside. Thus, by going on this learning trip, Singapore can learn from China and preserve our culture so we will be a unique country by itself, instead of just a shell.

After this trip, I can say that I am proud to be a Singaporean. I realise that every country has their own flaws and Singapore cannot be perfect and that I should appreciate what I have in Singapore. Compared to Yangzhou, Singapore is more suitable for me to live in because the living conditions here are much more comfortable than Yangzhou's since Singapore is more economically developed than Yangzhou, where I can see old people relaxing everywhere and people not rushing from one place to another. I am proud to be able to live in Singapore and enjoy the modernized utilities in Singapore. Although Singapore is a small country, I am glad to be able to live in this small but strong country. Our ancestors have fought really hard for what Singapore has become today and I am proud of them and proud of Singapore and most importantly, proud to be a Singaporean.

In this trip, I have visited two cities with a long history and rich culture which are Shanghai and Yangzhou. I cannot exactly say both cities are different because they have their similarities but both cities have different cultures and history. Shanghai is the more economically developed and modern city while Yangzhou is the more laid-back and ancient city. I have become more aware of the values and beliefs of people from China.

In Shanghai, we visited The Bund (外滩), Huang Pu Jiang (黄浦江) and French Concession (法租界) on day one. At The Bund, it is a waterfront area along Huang Pu Jiang. There are historical buildings along The Bund, built in the olden days when other countries, such as Germany and Japan, infiltrated Shanghai. The Bund helps to improve Shanghai's economy because it consulates many countries' buildings and banks and business offices were settled there, thus Shanghai is the major financial city in China. I remember seeing a memorial at The Bund. The memorial consists of three rifles stacked together which commemorates the death of heroes in the opium war, the Chinese civil war and the Sino-Japanese war. During the boat ride at Huang Pu Jiang, I see many architectural buildings along Huang Pu Jiang which were built during ancient times by other countries. The most attractive skyscraper is the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠). At the French Concession, the most distinctive feature is the walls are made of stones instead of wood, like the usual China style. The French Concession contributes to Shanghai's economy by reopening to tourists and it is now a popular tourist attraction, thus improving Shanghai's economy. Shanghai is the busiest port and the most economically developed city in China. Its culture and the people's behaviour differs from Beijing, the capital of China. Shanghai's contribution to the economy is mainly through tourism. Shanghai uses tourist attractions, such as the lightings on the skyscrapers at night, to attract tourists and earn lots of money, which improves Shanghai's economy. On day one, I learn that if China is a dragon, Shanghai is its head.

On day two, we visited Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (上海城市规划馆), TianZiFang (田子坊) and had lunch at Hai Di Lao Hot Pot (海底捞). The significance of these places is to showcase the old Shanghai and new Shanghai, in terms of economic development and history. There is a need to preserve these places so people can learn more about Shanghai's economy improvement and its past. These places also allow the Chinese to appreciate their rich history and their good life now. Singapore also has similar art zones, such as the Explanade. Singapore can organize more art galleries to encourage the local art scenes to be more vibrant. There is a dilemma between cultural heritage conservation and economic development in Shanghai and China. However, I feel that Shanghai has managed to strike a balance between economic development and culture preservation. While Shanghai develops its city, they face some constraints in the form of historical sites and cultural heritage. Shanghai manages to overcome all these constraints by retaining the exterior look and changing the interior which strikes a balance between tradition and modernisation. Singapore faces similar situation too but Singapore chooses to modernize and forget its cultural heritage. For example, Singapore used to have a train station in Tanjong Pagar but it was demolished to make way for economic developments. Hai Di Lao is a popular and successful seafood restaurant and had many outlets all over the world, including one in Singapore. We are very fortunate to be able to eat in this restaurant. I like the customer service from the workers especially. The workers treated every customer with respect and some even introduced the food to us and teach us how to cook the food. Before eating, they even offered cloths for people to wipe their spectacles and rubber bands to tie long hair. They did everything for their customers and put in their best effort in their jobs, which I think mostly contributes to the success of Hai Di Lao. We travelled to Yangzhou in day two. At night, we visited the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (北京杭州大运河). The night view was absolutely breathtaking. The differences between Shanghai Huang Pu Jiang and the Grand Canal are Shanghai has tall skyscrapers while Yangzhou has shorter olden buildings and bridges. Another difference is Shanghai uses modern technology, like lasers on buildings, while Yangzhou only has colourful lights. There are also more elderly and children in Yangzhou than Shanghai, probably due to the relaxing and slow-paced lifestyle in Yangzhou and Shanghai being more westernized and advanced. The rise and fall of Yangzhou during ancient times was due to the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal was used to trade due to its strategic position in China. However, during the fall of the Song Dynasty, the use of the Grand Canal was diminished. The economy of Yangzhou was greatly damaged due to natural disasters. No merchants travelled to Yangzhou and thus, caused the downfall of Yangzhou. The Grand Canal was also destroyed in wars and traders could not trade in Yangzhou which caused the downfall of Yangzhou's economy.

On day three, we went to Zhi Chun Cha She (治春茶社早茶) for breakfast and visited Slender Lake (瘦西湖), a man-made lake and is similar to Hangzhou's lake except Hangzhou's lake is bigger and is natural, Chinese Paper Cutting Museum (中国雕版印刷博物馆), Dong Quan Men (东圈门历史街), Dong Guan Jie (东关历史文化街) and we watched a performance (千秋粉黛表演) put up by a makeup business (老字号谢馥春化妆店). I learn that Singapore's breakfast is different from Yangzhou's. Yangzhou's people generally eat two meals per day which is breakfast and lunch and thus, they eat more for breakfast. Singaporeans have a busy and hectic lifestyle so we generally eat less for breakfast. When I saw the breakfast, I was shocked because of the amount of food. I learn that Yangzhou's lifestyle is much more slower and relaxing than Singapore's and people can slowly enjoy having their meals in Yangzhou while Singaporeans must eat fast and only can eat little due to time constraint. In Slender Lake area, we saw a writing by Mao Zedong and we were told that the calligraphy writing by Mao Zedong is the most difficult to accomplish. I learn that the Chinese like literature and culture a lot and Yangzhou has a very deep history and many stories behind each tourist attraction we went and we can learn life lessons from the stories. We took a boat ride at the Slender Lake and there was an interesting observation I made. The paddlers on the boat ride were all females and we were told that it is because they row the boat more gracefully than men and since Yangzhou is famous for its beauty, females row the boat to show off their beauty and grace while doing it. I learn that the men in Yangzhou are the ones who relax while women are the more hardworking ones. Yangzhou has more nature than urban which makes it a suitable place for old people to live in. I learn that block printing is a culture of Yangzhou and this occupation is slowly diminishing in the globalising world. Not a lot of people like and appreciate this culture because they do not have patience and time to slowly carve out the wood. Nowadays, there is no need to learn block printing since it is of no use to the modernized world. Young people do not appreciate this culture, making it difficult to continue block printing. Some stall owners in Dong Guan Jie have creative ideas to keep their trade alive and cater to the needs of the crowds. For example, there are different shapes and designs at the sugar art store. They have animal designs to attract young children's attention and thus, most of their parents will buy the sugar art for them and they can continue their business. They have a good business mind for selling sugar art because children likes to eat sweet food and they cater to children's needs by designing sugar art to attract them. At night, we watched the performance put up by a makeup business. This is also an action to attract more customers to buy their products because after watching the performance, many ladies will want to be as beautiful as the performers who wore their products so they will buy the products and they can continue business. In day three, I learn that Yangzhou is the city of poetry because the people like literature and culture.

On day four and five, we went to the Yangzhou school, named 扬大附中东部分校学部. It is an affiliated school of Yangzhou University. I learn more about Yangzhou's education system in the school. Singapore and Yangzhou education system are same same but different. There are some things that I appreciate about Singapore schools that are not present in Yangzhou. Firstly, Singapore schools' facilities are more advanced than Yangzhou's. For example, the toilets in Yangzhou are very open and they do not have toilet bowls. I was shocked when I first saw it because the toilets are very disgusting and some cubicles even have traces of the last person's business. Secondly, Singapore schools have extra co-curricular activities after school while Yangzhou's school does not have. I feel that the students in Yangzhou school will be very stressed because they have to study all day long and do not have time to play and relax and enjoy themselves. Thirdly, Singapore schools have more hands-on lessons than Yangzhou's so we can experience ourselves rather than just sitting on the chair and listening all day long and we can learn so much more by ourselves from these hands-on activities. However, we can learn from our peers' good attitudes and behaviours. They listen in class attentively and sit up straight with good posture and remain silent for the lesson and do not disrupt the lessons which show their respect for their teachers. They are very disciplined and respect their teachers and classmates. We can learn from them by having an enthusiastic attitude for learning and pay our full attention during class. I used to think Singapore's education system is tough and tiring due to long hours of co-curricular activities but after going to the Yangzhou's school, I think Singapore's education system is better than Yangzhou's because not only do the students not have co-curricular activities, they also have very long hours in school until night time.

On day four after school, we went to Lushi Old Mansion (晚清盐商豪宅卢氏老宅) for dinner. This restaurant is very unique because it was once a wealthy salt merchant's house and it is still being preserved now. It is ancient with the old chairs, tables and paintings which decorate the house. Singapore also has similar kind of restaurant, like Malaysian Boleh in Jurong Point. This allows us to relate back to the past and our rich culture while eating and it is a combination of historical culture and food culture. On day five after school, we went to the former residence of Zhu Ziqing (朱自清故居). The house is small compared to others we went to. Zhu Ziqing's residence made me think of the colour brown because the house is all brown for its furniture and it is dull and looks ancient. It made me think of money because the owner, Zhu Ziqing, is rich and decorates his house nicely and thus, I can conclude that he has a lot of wealth.

On day six, we went to Geyuan Garden (个园), Daming Temple (大明寺) and Volkswagen (大众汽车). Geyuan Garden has lots of bamboo trees. The people living there were very smart because they built glass windows which were unavailable in China during olden days. Geyuan Garden is famous for its four seasons rock landscape. Some of the rocks were carried from Anhui to Yangzhou. I can conclude that the owner of Geyuan Garden was very rich because the garden was nicely designed. During the industrial visit to Volkswagen, we sat on a tram and went inside the factory where the workers made the cars. I was awed because the workers were all very hardworking and concentrated on making the cars. The workers took pride in their work. I think the workers' professionalism in their jobs and put customers as their priority contribute to the success. Volkswagen company set up the company in China because China has lots of land and less competition. Furthermore, there is a high demand in China and thus, there will be more production and Volkswagen can earn more money due to the high economy in China.

On day seven, we sat on the bullet train back to Shanghai. The locals were very considerate. They moved in quickly and sat down, allowing others to move in quickly and find their seats. The bullet train is much faster than Singapore's mrt system. It travels a greater distance and can hold more people. The seats were also movable which greatly surprised me. It makes me want to explore other countries' transportation system, such as Japan's maglev train.

In conclusion, the trip to Yangzhou has been a memorable one. I learn more about the values and beliefs of people from China. The Chinese also managed to strike a balance between modernisation and preserving and promoting their culture. Singapore can learn to change the interior and maintain the exterior look to preserve our culture and at the same time, improve economically.

Daily reflection:

-Kah Ghee (15)