Reflections for OELP- Anhui

Toh Zhi Yang(33) 2E

Day1

  Whizzing on a high speed rail from Shanghai to Hefei was a thrilling experience for me. After spending an estimated 3 hours on the ride, we arrived at Hefei. Our stomach was moaning in hunger so we set out for a sumptuous lunch, which turns out to be the otherwise. I was not accustomed to their cuisines, so I didn't ate much but it was a really a eye opener to me, regarding their unique local culinary skills and dishes. After having our lunch, we headed off to Sanhe Guzhen. When we arrived at the destination, I was awed by the beautiful scenery of Sanhe Guzhen, which encompasses its majestic architecture and wonderful residences of famous people in China. We were guided by a tour guide, who told us the long and informative history about each and every residences of Sanhe Guzhen. From our visit to Sanhe Guzhen, we learnt a lot about the Chinese history and how did those people in the past changed China into what is it like today. After that, our eye bags were visible so we decided to check into the hotel, before going for dinner.

Day2

Today, after having plentiful sleep last night, we headed off to Hefei 45 Middle School. When we arrived at the school gate, we were warmly welcomed by the students and teachers there, followed by a group photo. After that, we were led by the students to the school auditorium for the vice principal's short speech to welcome us. Followed by that, we were given a souvenir which was contained in a nice, intricate-designed box. The box contained a opera mask bookmark, and a brief note on the history of it. After that, we were led to their classrooms for lessons. The lessons there were enriching and I learnt more about an interesting topic, which was not included in our syllabus, which was politics. Even though the lesson on politics was quite difficult to understand, but the contents were quite interesting. What was interesting was that at the end of the lesson, there would be a ring and a voice thanking the teacher for teaching the class. I think that it was quite creative and interesting. This ring could thank the teacher for their hard work and also incentivized and made them have the drive to work and teach harder. I think that this ring was quite good and should be included in school, so as to incentivized teacher to work harder as well as notifying the teacher that his or her lessons had reached to an end, so that they would not eat into our break time. After that, my buddy brought me along, to visit the streets of China, and he took me to boat riding and I got a taste of the China's version of fast food near a shopping centre. After spending about two hours with my buddy, I left with the class for dinner to fill our hungry stomachs

5 things I love about RV

1. Toliets

2. Auditorium

3. Location

4. Classroom

5. Shorter school hours

Day3

After a hearty breakfast, we set off to Anhui museum. When we arrived at Anhui museum, I was shocked to see the magnificent museum of Anhui, it definitely did not disappoint my expectations. Its maze- like tile looked alike to a ladyrinth. It's architecture was amazing and it definitely set a good impression for me. When we set foot inside the museum, it was marvelous and we were brought along by a guide who told us information that really widens our knowledge. We learnt about '鼎' and the different versions of it from different dynasties. We also learnt about some of the famous philosophers, like Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi. We also learnt about the deep secrets built within the memorial arches. We also learnt about the history of the four treasures of study. I was awed when I saw brushes of different sizes, like chicken clawed shaped brush and famille-rose-shafted brush with dragon design of Emperor Qianlong. After that, we headed back to the hotel for some sleep.

CSI( Anhui Museum )

Color: Gold

The colour, gold is suitable for describing and conveying the message of prosperity and success that is carried on for generations to generations that created the China today.

Symbol: 鼎

鼎 is chosen to show to that China is a developed nation, that can withstand and uphold their culture, and was able to preserve this national culture heritage site.

Image: Traditional House

This image of traditional house was shown, because of its traditional and elegant designs displayed all around the house.

Day4

After filling our stomach with delicious food, we set off to China Intangible Cultural Heritage Park. When we reach there, the entrance was decorated with beautiful designs and a water fountain to bring in the relaxing atmosphere. When we explored the place, it was quite quiet and there were no other people in the park, so we went to an animal circus. When we watched the circus, what was displayed totally changed my perception of a circus before watching it. Animal cruelty was fully displayed as the circus trainer beat the tigers into to perform an act and they did it repeatedly, not even thinking of the consequences. Animals are also living things, but why are they beating and punishing when they cannot perform an act. As most of us were disturbed by this act, we went out halfway. After that, we went to a large playground, where everyone was challenging themselves to finish the horizontal rock wall, but some of the students were just downcast and did not play at all. After that, we set off for dinner but almost everyone was quite sad, including my friends and group mates sitting around my table. After that, we set off with complete silence in the bus back to hotel.

Day5

After eating our last breakfast at Holiday Inn Express Hefei South, we set off to a 4 hour long bus ride to Huangshan. Everyone seem to be a lot cheerful and energetic after yesterday's sleep. On the bus, the back portion of it was quite noisy, and some of them were even playing cards and most importantly, they were laughing together as a class, bonding as a class. After that , our teachers allowed  us to buy some tidbits at a nearby rest station. Everyone was excited and some of them ran to the market and bought a handful of tidbits back to the bus. When we reached Huangshan, we went for a 1 hour trek to our hotel, which was situated near the peak of Huangshan, but after an arduous trekking, we did not have any sweat as the temperature was quite cold, so there was no sweat at all, coming out form our forehead. After that, we filled our stomachs during lunch, but the dishes were not that appealing as Mr Wong had told us earlier, that everything, including all the materials needed for daily lives, food had to be brought up by people, so,the quality of food would not be so good. After that,we went to the various mountain in Huangshan area, for their scenic view. When I set foot upon, it gave me a heveanly feeling, and the mountains below that formed Huangshan Scenic Area, formed a beautiful landscape. After exploring and admiring the scenic view, we transferred to Yixian for an one hour ride.

Day6

We set off to Xidi. The residences there were quite ancient and it was one of China's Cultural Heritage Site. As we explored the Xidi village, I learnt of one type of architecture, which was called'马头墙'. This was set up on the roof of all residences. The purpose of setting up this wall, was to prevent fire from spreading to other residences in case of emergency, when a fire breaks up in the community. From here, we can see that people from the past were quite intelligent from the way they thought of the idea to prevent fire from spreading. When we went into the residences, we noticed that both halves of a table were put on separate side of the living room. The tour guide told us that it was to tell visitors that the breadwinner of the house, who was the master, was not at home. When the master is at home, the halves of the table would be combined to form a complete table, which symbolizes'团圆'. From all the residences we explored, we found that that at every living room,there would be a vase at their ghosted and a mirror at the left side, it symbolizes serenity, which means'平静' in Chinese. From Xidi village, I learnt a lot from the traditional practices reflected in their residences, and what lies behind these, were the long, meaningful history that was preserved for many centuries. After that, we went to Hongchun village, which fully resembles Xidi village. After visiting these two villages, I learnt about the various traditional practices in these two villagers, their customs and it was truly an eye opener to me. Next, we went to Tunxi for a 1 hour ride. We started off by visiting Shexian and Huishang Big House. In Huishang Big House, I saw that the house was very big, lavishly designed with huge lake and several pavilions. The owner of this big house was actually a rich businessman, from the size of the house. After that, we went for dinner. Later at night, we were called upon by our teachers to attend a lecture by a professor. During the 2 hour talk, we learnt a lot about Anhui and it's culture. I was fully immersed in the sea of knowledge during the lecture. During the lecture, I was taught about the deep culture and history which was preserved for many years. Anhui culture had a lot of interesting things which interest me, and led me to widen my horizon of knowledge.

Day7

During the last day of our journey, we went to Tunxi Ancient Street, which was just a 10 minute drive from our hotel. When we were in the ancient street, I bought a lot of local delights and a pair of fans for my mom and myself. After that, we travelled off to Hangzhou for a two and a half hour ride. When we arrived in Hangzhou, we set off to a long,relaxing boat ride in West Lake. After the boat ride, we went to Yue Fei Mausoleum. In Yue Fei Mausoleum, we saw the tomb of Yue Fei and his son, and besides that, the tour guide told us the history of Yue Fei, his hard work put in for China, but in the end, got made to be the scapegoat and died. After visiting the Yue Fei Mausoleum, we rushed off to Shanghai Airport. When we reached the airport after a four hour bus ride, we went to have dinner. After filling our stomachs, we checked in and got a fold voucher and were exhilarated. As most of our stomachs had been filled, some of us only brought ice cream and some finger food. After that, we headed off to Singapore.