OELP daily reflection

XINXUAN 2G OELP REFLECTION

DAY1 - "If China is a dragon, Shanghai is its head"

-Huang Pu Jiang

-Bund

-French Concession

Iconic buildings, the bund has a meaning behind how it was constructed. French concession is the biggest economical contribution to Chinese economy and development. Iconic buildings are to represent the country's uniqueness and the bund is an example of a representative. It is made up of 3 riffles which symbolizes the 3 wars. In Singapore, a few iconic buildings are namely the Merlin and marina bay sands.

DAY2 - "Shanghai's Urban Planning and Art Scene"

-Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

-TianZiFang

-Hai Di Lao Hot Pot

The significance of the exhibition hall to the local community is its history/past/ancestors, showing how shanghai has come to how it is today. In Singapore, there are no art zones that are like the ones we visited in Shanghai. Singapore can have colorful exhibitions are more interactive ones to encourage the local arts scenes to be more vibrant. They can educated the people and share stories about Singapore in the past. I think cultural heritage conservation should be regarded more than economic development. Without these heritages, Shanghai would not be what it is today. It is always important to remember the ancestors and also at the same time also improvise on the country's economic growth and development. Some constraints Shanghai faced when developing its city is its lack of space and in order to overcome this constraint, they can learn to use space more wisely. Similarly, Singapore also faces this problem due to our fast growing population. 

 “以人为本的”海底捞

Hai Di Lao had great customer service; attitude and respect towards the customers. They are always friendly and putting on a smile. They provided spectacle cloths for those who wore spectacles, apron for those with white clothes, and introduced every dish to us patiently. They also have a television whereby parents can keep an eye on their children while they are in the playroom so they can be at ease while having their meal and not having the need to worry over their children's safety. One area that has room for improvement is that they could perhaps try not to strike a conversation when we are eating. We understand fully that they were just being pure friendly but we felt awkward having to eat and at the same time answer them.

"The Tale Of Two Cities"

-Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal

In comparison to the night scene of Shanghai's Huang Pu Jiang, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has lesser lights and are not as vibrant. In Yangzhou, the people there lead a very relaxed and carefree lifestyle whereas the people in Shanghai lead hectic and busy lives. In Yangzhou, buildings are not allowed to be built over 9 stories high so as to preserve heritage whereas Shanghai is full of high rise buildings. I also observed that Shanghai's Huang Pu Jiang has higher technology, sky scrapers, taller buildings and lights that were coordinated unlike the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. 

Yangzhou has failed in terms of modernizing as compared to Shanghai. Because it conserved it's heritage and is not a modernized city, they are unable to make a lot of money.

DAY3 - "Yangzhou- The city of Poetry and War 烟花三月下扬州"

-治春茶社早茶

-游览瘦西湖

-船游24桥

-欣赏千秋粉黛表演

I observed that although we ate at different restaurants, the food served were always similar. The food we had there was also very different from what we have in Singapore and we also got to experience paper cutting. The locals there have only 2 meals a day which is why they have such a heavy breakfast which made many of us shocked since we usually have 3 meals a day and many of us were unable to finish the heavy breakfast. I learnt that people have different likings and even though we are all human, we lead different lifestyles and to understand that everyone has their own differences. With these experience, I can apply it to my daily life that different people live differently and we should not make fun of others but learn to accept and adapt.

-参观中国雕版印刷博物馆

-东圈门历史街

-参观谢馥香

-东关历史文化街

-逸圃

I interviewed the stall owner of a diminishing occupation(block printing) in the cultural street and he said that people are spending their money on more realistic everyday items, making it hard for them to make a living. moreover, not many people will be willing to take the excessive time and patience required to carve words when now, we have printers and it takes just a few clicks to get something printed. Unlike block printing, having to carve each word and even the need to restart when they carve a word wrongly. In order to keep the block printing trade alive and catering to the needs of the crowds, they did live demonstrations which attracted crowds as we do not see these in our daily lives. In my opinion, even though we have to keep up with the times, it does not mean that we have to get rid of tradition and I think that it is important to conserve our tradition and not let it die.

DAY4 - "Education System - Same Same but Different"

-扬大附中东部分校初中学部

I observed that in their school, the do not make notes in lessons but instead pay full attention, not fidgeting about, sitting upright. This shoes their respect for the teachers. There are also CCTVs at the front so that there would be a teacher behind the room watching the CCTV. Also, they use chalk boards while we use white boards and their visualizer are also touch screen whereas the ones we have are not. They also have toilets of much poorer standards than the ones we have and they also do not have mirrors so students would not spend and waste time looking at themselves in the mirror. They are very serious, paying close attention in lessons. They are proactive in answering questions and are eager to learn; which is something Singaporean students can learn from them. Their lessons are more hands on and their lessons durations are also shorter as their attention span cannot last for long. Their teaching styles are also different, where their classrooms have mics all over and is able to pick up even the softest sounds. This would discourage students from talking amongst themselves and also makes it a lot easier for students to be able to hear what the teacher is saying.

-Lushi Old Mansion

This restaurant is very unique as all it's furniture are wooden and resembles an old mansion just like its name. The purpose of such restaurants with reference to themes is so that once the customers enter, they get the feel of the theme. This enhances and allows the customer to experience something meaningful. In Singapore, we also have something similar called "Malaysia Boleh" whereby all the food in there are Malaysian style and is decorated such that it looks just like a street in Malaysia. In order to attract teens, they can have trendy things such as playing pop songs teenagers like to attract them but also at the same time conserving their traditions.

DAY5 

扬大附中东部分校初中学部

I used to think singapore's education system is already a very stressful one and we students were facing a lot of stress. However, now I think Singapore's education system is not as stressful/bad compared to Yangzhou's/China's.

Firstly, their school starts about the same time as us but end school at 6 even though they have 1-2h lunch break in between.

Secondly, the students who stay far from home have to stay in the school hostel and they only get a chance to meet their family once a week. This makes it hard on them since they are only teenagers and do not have their family by their side all their time. This means they have to learn to be independent the hard way. My buddy mentioned that she misses her family a lot and due to large competition in the outside world, she has no choice but to study hard so she can secure a good job in the future and repay her parents. Her words truly touched and inspired me to stop taking things for granted and also to start studying hard for my own future. 

DAY5/6 - "腰缠十万贯，骑鹤下扬州”

-Geyuan Garden

-Daming Temple 

The garden was full of plants and had a lot of bamboo. I climbed up the paragon and had a view from there, the view was amazing! There were also large and random rocks which are natural, carved and washed in water. The major religion influencing the garden design is Buddhism as I saw incense and the Chinese characters "轻薄" we're purposely written wrongly to symbolize that one has to continue learning and to remind one not to be arrogant.

-Volkswagen and 老字号谢馥香化妆店

Both companies have mottos to strive to be excelled and number 1. I think that they can continue to do well. Volkswagen changed and modernists to improve the cars they make whereas 谢馥香keeps their make up as similar to those they made in the past without doing much changed. This is one aspect whereas there is a difference how the two companies are managed.

DAY7 - transportation system 

Similarly like our transportation system, everyone has to get tickets in order to board the train. However, the trains in China allows food and drinks, everyone gets seats and magazines are even provided. The seats are comfortable and even rotatable so you can sit such that you are seated opposite your friend. In the train station, there are also convenience stores, selling foods and drinks like bubble tea and snacks. Something that shocked me was that we had to walk past a metal scammer which was similar to the airports. I found out after wards that since there is a much larger population in China than in Singapore, the high crime rates called for such security measures. Even though food and drinks were allowed on board, the trains were very clear and tidy whereas in Singapore, where food and drinks are not allowed, sometimes spillage happens on the train and no one cleans it up. The locals are also very polite, allowing all passengers to alight before they board the train. The trains in China are also very punctual whereby the trains have a fixed timing to arrived whereas in Singapore, the time stated is inaccurate and causes inconvenience to people.