Year 2 Bicultural Studies OELP to Shanghai & Suzhou OELP
Geraldine Ng Qi Yue (4)
During this learning journey in China, I have gone to many different places where I noticed many things that made me see China’s strengths, weaknesses and also made me take things more for granted in Singapore.
One example is the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) where the facilities and environment of that part of Suzhou is very similar to Singapore -- there were numerous trees lined neatly along the roads just like the green Singapore; high-rise buildings, which is common is Singapore, were also seen. Moreover, the area was also very clean, just like Singapore. From the exhibitions I had went through over there, I have learnt that this project was accomplished together by Singapore and Suzhou where Singapore had shared its knowledge to Suzhou to “teach” them how to develop China further and let it become more modernized. The collaboration of this project has also sustained for twenty years. This successful project that has been going on for so many years had proved that China is progressing and developing well as from a traditional old village in the past, this part of Suzhou has modernized into an advanced and developed area where its environment and facilities are just like Singapore’s, which is known to be a developed country. This project also shows China's ability to keep up with good relations with other countries to be able to work together and learn from Singapore for so many years It is seen that China is capable of developing its own country and build up good relationship with other foreign countries which will sure be beneficial to it. China's great development has made me realize how fast the less developed countries are starting to progress and that Singapore must not look down or underestimate them as they will sooner or later catch up or even surpass us. Singapore, though well-developed, will still have to be more creative and come up with more ideas and make improvements for the country as we cannot just stop at this stage when the other countries are improving and keeping up fast. Overall, from this SIP project, I can see that China has really improved a lot and is developing and learning fast from the other countries.
Another observation I have made in China was during the school immersion when I was in Xinghai experimental high school. I realized that the classrooms' facilities lacked a visualizer, which is what all schools in Singapore have. Also, instead of using a whiteboard, a blackboard, which is the traditional teaching "tool" used in the past, was used in the classrooms instead, unlike Singapore. The diagrams for Math lessons were also drawn on the board instead of being printed out and flashed through the visualizer for students to see. Though there was a projector, it was also seldom used and students mainly did corrections by listening to the teachers who will read the answers or copy them from the blackboard, very different as compared to us where in Singapore, we mostly copied corrections from the screen where the answers and shown through the projectors or visualizers. This shows that China, though progressing, is still less developed than Singapore as its teaching methods and facilities are still traditional and the old ones which schools often used in the past. Whereas for Singapore, most of our teaching styles are based on the developed technology where we depend on the visualizers, projectors etc., instead of the whiteboard. Hence, it seemed that China is still less developed than us and sure has a lot of things to change to keep the country modernized and to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of education facilities. Furthermore, although the school, according to our teachers’ explanation, is a good school where its academic achievements are excellent, the students, unlike the good schools in Singapore, do not have the advantage of having an even more advanced way of learning like educational electronic gadgets for example the iPad, which is what some schools in Singapore uses for learning, including our very own school. I guess that it is perhaps due to the fact that China’s education system is not advanced as Singapore’s yet and therefore, this more advanced way of learning is not yet introduced to China’s schools. This once again emphasizes on the fact that China is not as developed as Singapore and needs to also work on improving its education systems and facilities. This has also made me feel fortunate to be in Singapore as it is only then that I realized how much advantage we have here where our country is well-developed and our systems are well carried out. It is only here in Singapore where our education systems are advanced that I get the chance to be able to study using an iPad, a more advanced way of studying. This whole immersion trip has made me not take Singapore’s well-being for granted.
During the lessons at Xinghai Experimental High School, I noticed that the students there, when having lessons, were very attentive to the teachers. None of the students talked irrelevant topics with one another and either asked their neighboring friends about the teacher’s lesson or paid attention to what the teacher was saying. They had shown great respect to their teachers and presented great self-discipline as they do not need the teachers’ reminders to be quiet during lessons .I was really impressed with them for their great behavior and it made me feel ashamed as back in Singapore, the students often needed reminders to pay full attention during lessons and even with these reminders, there are still students who persist in talking to their friends around them about things that have totally no relation to the lesson topics which often resulted in the teachers scolding the students about discipline during the lessons. Whereas in China, so far, of all the lessons I have gone through, none of this ever happened because the students were very well-disciplined. Even though China may be less developed than Singapore, the people of China seemed to be more “developed” than Singaporeans in the sense that they seem much more mature than us. This had made me determined to pay attention in class and to restrain myself from talking irrelevant topics during lessons. I do not know if the students are just well-disciplined themselves or if the school had taught them about disciplinary but if it’s the latter, I would definitely believe that the way China teaches its students about disciplinary is way better than Singapore’s way of doing so. Perhaps this is really something Singapore should learn from China—to learn how to teach the young students disciplinary effectively as even though it may not be a very major issue on the overall picture, it is still important to educate youngsters about character and disciplinary as this may affect their very own character in the future when it’s their time to take over Singapore and serve and govern the country. Good character is definitely needed in this case .Hence, Singapore should learn from China in terms of disciplinary in schools and overall, I am very impressed with the good behaviors of the China students.
Also, it was through communications with the students did I realize that effective bilingualism is actually very important. Used to speaking English back in Singapore, I had quite a number of difficulties talking with the Chinese students because our Chinese standards are too different. When trying to converse in English, I realized that our English standards also vary quite greatly, which made communication not as simple as we may have thought. I realized that knowing Chinese well would be very important as it will help us to communicate with other foreign Chinese easily and also, now that China is developing a lot, a lot of business and trades in the future would most probably involve China greatly and due to this case, we should learn to communicate with them effectively to be able to carry out business with them well. Perhaps I can start so by talking using the Chinese language more often at home or at school. Also, I realized that the words the Chinese use are very advanced which I do not know so perhaps I can improve on my Chinese vocabulary by reading more Chinese newspapers, books etc.
I realized that the toilets, not only in the schools, but also in the public, are mostly very stinky and have no toilet paper provided for us. The toilets are also seldom the modern toilet seats but mainly the squatting types that are used in the past. The flushing system is also very undependable as there are many circumstances where the toilets cannot be flushed and a lot of paper and waste are stuck in the bowl, creating an unpleasant sight and producing disgusting smells. On the other hand, in Singapore, toilet papers are provided almost in all the toilets and the toilets seldom give out unpleasant stenches. The toilets are also modern toilet seats which are cleaner and the flushing system is so far quite reliable. This once again shows how China is less developed than us. Their toilets are much more unhygienic as compared to ours to the point where it made me very reluctant to go in there. It made me not take Singapore for granted as in Singapore, even little things like the toilets are made clean and hygienic for us, unlike China, where the toilet systems are not improved for the well-being of the people. I believe China really need to improve on their systems for the well-being of the country and that they should not keep focusing on the major aspects like the political and economical systems but also not neglect and forget about the minor issues like toilets as these tiny issues can actually create a great impact on their reputation when tourists from overseas visit the country. A tourist could have looked at China’s beautiful tourist attractions and start to love China but if she comes across a toilet that is extremely stinky and unhygienic, it could have changed her impression on China and made her realize that China also has its ugly or bad side. Hence, China should not neglect minor aspects like toilets to improve its country further and I, from these experiences in the toilets, am really proud that Singapore is able to take care of the many aspects of the country well, whether major or minor.
During the trip to the Humble Administrator's Garden, I realized that the place was well preserved with many traditional pagodas with ancient styles and designs. There were also many traditional bridges as well as rocks in that place, showing that China preserves its Chinese traditional cultures very well as the garden looked indeed very traditional and ancient as it was meant to be, not at all modern. The materials used to built all these infrastructures were also natural materials like wood, stone etc. I feel that this is something Singapore should learn from China--to preserve more of its own culture and heritage. Instead of focusing on making Singapore an even better developed country, the government should also not neglect the countries' history and culture by preserving them well with effort like China, who used mainly natural resources and traditional patterns to build its heritage sites to showcase its culture in a more realistic way. I also realized that the Chinese were really superstitious as they believed in many Chinese beliefs. For example, in the Humble Administrator's Garden, some of the pathways were crooked as the Chinese believed that at night, ghosts will appear and in order to prevent them from following us, crooked paths have to be made as ghosts can only travel in straight paths. Therefore, it shows that the Chinese are really superstitious to believe in such Chinese beliefs and even take action to it. This, I believe, is one of the Chinese cultures — that they believe in traditional Chinese beliefs. The act of building a crooked pathway has shown us this culture and the superstitious character of the Chinese, making me feel very impressed of the way these Chinese show and present their cultures and characters to us. It is a really interesting way of presenting their culture, I feel. It really is something that Singapore should learn from China — to think of more creative ideas to show and present our culture and history.
In the Shikumen museum, the past of China is once more presented where I had the chance to take a look at the type of housing the rich Chinese lived in during World War II. The house was really displayed for us and the designs were really very unique with a mixture of Eurasian and Chinese style. Although the houses are all gone by now, the ones created and duplicated at the museum is very realistic and does not seem artificial at all. The materials used were very antique, hence creating that traditional taste and antique, old atmosphere. It was so realistic that I felt that I was really back in the past, in an old, traditional house. This therefore once again shows that China really preserves its culture well, something Singapore can learn from. Singapore's museums should also perhaps follow China's way, to not only show the country’s history with pictures and wordings around the museum but also to create something more realistic that makes one feel like they have gone back to the past, like creating a kampong house etc. In terms of preserving culture and history, I believe China is doing it much better than Singapore due to the realism of their heritage sites. Overall, I can see that China has a lot of different ways to preserve its culture -- by preserving its heritage through places and infrastructures and also, by being superstitious.
Overall, I really learned a lot during this trip and is impressed by China's fast yet successful development greatly. I really look forward to seeing China's further development and progress and really wonder what the country will be like in the future.
Nellie Lim Jia Ji (15)
The 7-day overseas experiential learning programme (OELP) to China (Suzhou and Shanghai) was a remarkable and meaningful educational trip! Throughout the trip, we were exposed greatly to China’s history and culture. We have also gained knowledge on the rapid urban development of Shanghai and Suzhou. However, through this trip, we know that Shanghai and Suzhou cannot be representatives of China. China is not developed and urbanised overall as an entire nation, with certain areas that remain rural and still lack in urbanisation.
When I was in Suzhou and Shanghai, I realised that the environment and atmosphere were very similar to that of Singapore. In terms of transport and traffic, there were many highways and underground tunnels. There were also street lamps on the roads to make driving at night safer. As the times that we set off for our destinations were usually before or after the peak hours, we weren’t able to experience the severe traffic congestions that were infamous in Shanghai and Suzhou. I also learnt that there were buses, subways and high-speed rail trains to make travelling to and fro destinations easier and more accessible for the Chinese citizens. From what I heard from the tour guide, as some Chinese citizens work in Shanghai but reside in Suzhou, high-speed rail trains and subways reduce the travelling time, making travelling much more convenient for them. When travelling on the highways and roads, I also noticed that there were many high-rise offices and residential buildings. This is significant as high-rise buildings serve as evidence of urbanisation. The roads were also lined with many plants and trees. However, these trees are different to those planted in Singapore. In Singapore, there are many rain trees planted along the roads to shade vehicles from the intense heat and light of the sun. Whereas in Suzhou and Shanghai, the street trees are planted to absorb the hazardous air and release clear air back into the atmosphere as these cities often suffer poor air quality. Speaking of air quality, as compared to Singapore’s air, the air in Suzhou and Shanghai are not as clean. When I was at The Bund in Shanghai, the skyscraper was not very visible as it was quite foggy and hazy. This taught me to appreciate the clean and fresh air that we enjoy in Singapore most of the times. As we travelled along the roads, we spotted many shop houses. Most of the shop houses were black and white, also commonly known as 粉墙歹瓦. This is unique as the shop houses in Singapore have many different colours and patterns. One thing that I felt that Suzhou and Shanghai lacked greatly in was toilet cleanliness. Most of the toilets were dirty with an overwhelming awful stench. Some toilets also did not provide toilet papers and proper sanitary bins (for the ladies) which was disturbing. Their toilet bowls were also mostly the squat types which made it inconvenient for some of us. After this trip, I felt extremely grateful and thankful that most of the toilets in Singapore were clean.
The China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) was our first destination. From the exhibitions that we visited in the SIP, I’ve learnt that this major project was the collaboration and partnership between the 2 governments. In the midst of this project, China was able to learn from Singapore the policies/regulations implemented to govern the country and the methods/ideas used to industrialise and urbanise. Singapore, on the other hand, was able to venture into the Chinese market. As Suzhou had the land and natural resources with cheap labour force, it enabled Singapore businessmen and entrepreneurs to set up their company base in SIP. The profits that were made in SIP were then brought back into Singapore, thus improving Singapore’s economy greatly. Recently, the Chinese and Singapore governments celebrated the 20th anniversary of the SIP since it was established in 1994. The project has so far been a major success for both countries and has also strengthened both countries’ relationship and ties. This project has also reflected the capability of the Chinese government to achieve such rapid industrialistion and economic growth within such a short timeframe that they might pose a threat to Singapore. Therefore we Singaporeans, should not remain satisfied of Singapore’s current success and stop there but instead should continue to work towards greater heights.
During our stay in Suzhou, we had two school immersions to 西安交通大学附属中学 and 星海实验中学 which have left a great impact on me! After visiting these two schools and attending some of the lessons, I have a better understanding of the education system of China. I learnt that they have 高考 (similar to ‘A’ Levels held in Singapore in November) in June, which is a very important and crucial national examination that determines the universities that the students will go. Like any other student in Singapore, the students in China also have dream universities where they would want to further their studies. The Chinese government values this examination to the extent where no construction work was to be carried out during the examination period. If a student was to be caught in a traffic jam on the examination day, officers will ride on motorcycles to fetch the student to the examination center. This shows how important and crucial the 高考 is for the Chinese. Similar to the education system in Singapore, most schools in China aim to nurture and develop their students holistically despite some where academic remains as top priority.
During the school immersion, there was a significant difference in terms of the facilities that the schools in Suzhou and Singapore. In Singapore, schools use whiteboards and markers, with visualisers and projectors with lesson notes being printed out for us. However, in Suzhou, the schools we visited used blackboards and chalk. They did not have any visualisers and their notes were hand-copied by the students themselves. This made me realise how fortunate I am with many facilities provided by the school to create a better learning environment for us students. We are also more advanced in terms of technology as we have iPads to assist our lessons and learning processes. Most of our textbooks and some lesson notes are given to us softcopy too, reducing the weight of the schoolbags we bring to school each day.
What surprised me the most was that the students did not have canteens with food stores where they could decide and buy what they wanted to eat. Instead, they had a cafeteria where everyone queued for and ate the same food. Their meals were balanced with huge servings – 2 dishes of vegetables, 2 dishes of meat, a bowl of soup, a bowl of rice and a serving of fruit. It was definitely a great surprise for me as this practice is hardly or never seen in Singapore primary and secondary schools!
The trips to the schools also made me realise something that Singapore students lack greatly. The students in Suzhou are proactive and take pride in their work. During lessons, as soon as a teacher finishes a question, a bunch of hands will already be in the air. The students are all very proactive and initiative. They are willing to volunteer and share their answers with no hesitation. This shows that they take pride in their work too! In Singapore, such a scenario is hardly seen. Singapore students are often afraid to share their answers for the fear of it being wrong or being laughed by their classmates. As a result, precious lesson times are often wasted as we wait for a brave soul to share his/her answer. In this aspect, we should learn from the Suzhou students and be more confident of our work!
During our stay in Suzhou, there were also visits to cultural and historical areas like the Humble Administrator’s Garden (拙政园), the No.1 Silk Factory in Suzhou (苏州第一丝绸厂), the Suzhou Museum (苏州博物馆) and Shantang Street (七里山塘街). Before I went on the trip, I always wondered why the Chinese government did not demolish these places and use these lands to build bigger companies and factories that can bring in bigger profits. However as I visited each attraction, I gradually understood the purpose behind preserving such places. The visit to the Humble Administrator’s Garden impacted me the greatest. One of the most interesting things that struck me was the architecture and designs of the pagodas and pavilions. One of the pavilions and corridors was built with the image of a dragon. Chinese believes that dragons are supposedly majestic creatures that bring good luck, prosperity, happiness and wealth. Also, the Chinese believe that ghosts travel in straight lines, thus they built corridors and doorways with curves. The windows also have different flower patterns on them as the Chinese believe that it will allow people to enjoy the different sceneries of different seasons differently. The fact that the architecture and designs of the different infrastructures were built according the Chinese beliefs made the whole place more interesting and meaningful than just admiring pretty flowers. The visits to these cultural and historical places made me realise the importance of preserving culture and heritage, that these culture and history can never be replaced by modern buildings and factories.
Our stay at Shanghai was also an eye-opener. I learnt that the urban structure of Shanghai in the past was greatly influenced by the western sides. In 1840, China signed the Treaty of Nanjing where they were forced to open certain ports of China like Shanghai. From then on, the design of infrastructures and fashion styles in Shanghai were greatly influenced by the western culture. Shanghai is able to rapidly develop and enjoy rapid economic growth as it is also a coastal-lying city; therefore it is easily accessible by sea and air. As a result, abundant of trades is being processed in Shanghai. With huge amount of goods and products being imported and exported every day, Shanghai has been able to have a stable profit increment. With many foreigners/tourists coming in and out of Shanghai daily, 2 airports are being built such that it makes Shanghai easily accessible for Chinese citizens or foreign businessmen.
Overall, I feel that this trip to China has enabled me to better understand and appreciate China’s history and culture. If given the opportunity, I would like to venture to other areas of China, preferably the country side, where I will be able to see and compare the profound difference between a developed province to a rural country province in China. This way, we will be able to see how China might still be lacking in some areas or are not as developed as the more prominent provinces like the Beijing and Shanghai.
Pan Shu Ting (19)
I understand that based on the schools that we have visited, the students there are not as biculturally oriented as us, because they were uncomfortable with speaking English when we asked questions in English. They could not understand our questions in Chinese, which there was fault on our part. During lessons, they listen attentively and don't interrupt the teacher unnecessarily even when they have to stay in school until 4.30pm or so. The food served in school on a day is the same for every student, with the exception of vegetarians. The school focuses on Art and creativity as they dedicate rooms to art galleries and even a workshop with inventions and models, which is an upgrade compared to our school's Design and Technology workshop and design studio.
Suzhou Industrial Park is an area consisting of schools, museums, homes, etc. It is not a literal park but an urbanised and industrialised area. It is existing proof that China can ultimately keep up with many advanced countries in the near future. It is a milestone in the development of China and I believe other areas can learn from it. It also resembles Singapore with its high-rise buildings and neat rows of trees. I can really see how Singapore has helped implement their methods into the SIP project and I feel proud that my country can make such a positive, drastic change to China.
I understand that instead of the stereotypical view that in the education sector only academics is taken into account, the schools in China highly appreciate creativity in music and art. China takes the step to preserve their culture and history. One example is the Humble Administrator's Garden where the beauty of infrastructure and nature come together. They conserve their roots, which constantly remind them of where they started and how much they have progressed as a nation today.
I think China will be able to catch up with Singapore in a number of years, and there will definitely be competition between both countries. Nonetheless, we can still remain having good ties and maybe engage in future development projects with a win-win situation.I think China will be more willing to trade more with Singapore because of their good relationship status. Because China has a lot of resources, Singapore can benefit from them by using those resources to boost our economy.
As a student, I can definitely learn from the schools. I can appreciate the little things such as being given the freedom to choose what I want to eat every day, and to try to enjoy my hours of school and learn as much as I can. At home, I can wisely make use of all the resources provided and not give in to the temptation of technology. In Singapore, I can appreciate the clear air and nice warm weather and how it has developed throughout the years. In addition, I can appreciate the cleaniness and hygiene of the toilets as I had some unpleasant experiences with the toilets in China.
There are many possibilities in order to develop my bicultural orientation as I realise that have much room to develop. Reading books is a start, even history books where I subconsciously absorb information about the content and even language-wise. Books are convenient resources, which I think our generation does not take advantage of that much. Maybe even speaking with our friends in our own Mother Tongue can help to improve our speech, but this can only happen if we are committed to speaking it for a period of time, but not entirely ignoring English. Another way is to join the bicultural course that my school offers from secondary 3 onwards.
Overall, this trip has really exposed me to what it is like in China, and that what I know is limited and it has all been from what I heard about the place. My view of the people and system there has totally changed as this trip has also forced me to think of future possibilities and how to really analyse almost every single aspect. Within 8 days, the amount of information and learning points have summed up to be much more than I had expected, and I hope future learning journeys await us.
Reuben Loo Jie Long (31)
I went to China during 27 May 2014 to 4 June 2014 and went to Shanghai and Su Zhou. We have went to various places such as SIP project, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Lu Xun Memorial Hall, Nanjing Road and the Oriental Pearl Tower.
The SIP project is a Singapore – Su Zhou collaboration which aims to develop a modern industrial township with Singapore experience. In the SIP project, they have built schools, HDB flats, factories, warehouses and facilities just like Singapore did. I have visited a few schools, facilities and the main building of the SIP project that oversees the entire project. Su Zhou wanted to know how Singapore achieved notable economic success within 30 years of independence and thus collaborated with us to use Singapore experience in building their buildings. However, Su Zhou is more interested in the hardware we build than the software (the planning) we do. Overall, the SIP project was a successful one, Singapore and Su Zhou had to learn from each other that our way of doing projects are different.
Also, I went to 星海实验中学for school immersion trip. The students there are friendly, hardworking and attentive in class. They are competitive in sports and friendly towards me. One thing I feel that Singapore students can learn from the students from the school is that they are attentive and take the initiative to answer questions unlike us. They also treasure everything they have, for example during pe lesson, they had not much basketballs and only took a basketball which was a little spoilt and used it. Facilities in the school are not that great but the students treasure them. The school curriculum there is different from Singapore. They are more focused on education but Singapore schools are more focused on all rounded education including aesthetics.
I have also visited the Humble Administrator’s Garden. The scenery in the garden is also spectacular. There are ancient Chinese pagodas, dragon like bridges. These structures are built long ago and contain rich Chinese history such as how they are built. Chinese use structures such as bridges, dragons to represent important places. They also built bridges curved as they believed ghosts appear at night and can’t walk curved, only straight so that they do not follow humans on the bridge. The humble administrators garden is divided into 3 parts as it is won by 3 persons from a mahjong match with each person who won owns a part of the garden. One thing I liked was the curved pagoda roofs, they add a tinge of ancient Chinese flavor to them as it cannot be found in most parts of the world.
I also went to a silk factory in Su Zhou and saw how silk was made. Silkworms can be used for many purposes such as eating, making into silk, and used for medicine. Surprisingly, silk can be made into healthcare products too, such as cream, gel, etc. When the silkworms form a cocoon, 70% of them are used for producing silk while 30% of them are used for reproduction for the next batch of silkworm production. There are three types of silkworm cocoons, triple cocoons, double cocoons and single cocoons. Triple & double cocoons are used for making silk blankets, etc. Single cocoons are made into small silk fabric. A strand of silk is 1/8 the width of a hair. Also, the single strands of silk have to be tied into a bunch consisting 8 strands of silk altogether to make silk products.
I went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition too. There, we had a guide arranged for us. He explained to us the different parts of china, showing us its development, etc. I remember him saying that Shanghai had only one MRT line before, but would soon have 22 lines all over the country. There is no doubt that shanghai has developed much as it has built skyscrapers, (Oriental Pearl Tower, one of the world’s most tallest building), ports, industries and buildings. Shanghai’s port is developing fast and I feel that it poses a threat as a competitor to Singapore.
I went to the Shikumen Museum too. The houses there are made of wood. The houses were a fusion of European and Chinese architecture. Also, the houses shared a common wall, courtyard and are attached to each other closely as it encourages socializing between neighbours and also prevent burglars and proved useful during world war 2. This type of housing was extremely popular as it made a good use of space. Wealth people from Zhejiang and Jiangsu took refuge in Shanghai. The type of housing promoted communal living too.
I went to Lu Xun Memorial Hall. Lu Xun lived from September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936. He was the father of modern Chinese literature. He studied medical sciences when he was young. During his time in Shanghai, WW2 was going on. He saw Japanese soldiers kill a Shanghainese but other mainlanders did not help, only stood there and look. He felt very angry, he thinks that the mainlanders should try to prevent the killings of innocent people and not just be a bystander. Lu Xun then went on to curing the peoples’ attitiudes. He wrote essays in a form of Chinese that poor people could read and no the ‘higher’ standard of Chinese. before his death, he was a chronic smoker and wrote two essays, "Death", and "This Too Is Life".
I went to the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, Oriental Pearl Tower. The Oriental Pearl Tower is a landmark of Shanghai and one of the tallest buildings in the world. It oversees almost the whole of shanghai and is located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund.
I went to Nanjing Road to shop, there are a lot of shops there that sell a variety of things. There were also tons of people at that time and we were told that there are pickpockets and thus must take care of our belongings.
As for HaiDiLao, it is a dining place that serves hotpot. The food there is quite yummy! :D it is a extremely popular dining place for tourist and locals.
I went to Commemoration Exhibition of Expo 2010 Shanghai. Expo 2010 Shanghai China was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It holds te largest amount of land ever among all the expos. I went to the expo in 2010 too, there were a lot of people and we had to queue to enter any exhibition hall, especially popular ones which needed special VIP passes or booked 3-4 before.
My trip to Shanghai and Suzhou was extremely enriching, Shanghai is developing fast and can soon be compared to Singapore as a threat. I have learned more about Chinese culture in terms of how they build structures, study, etc. I think some good factors of them can be used back in Singapore. Personally as a student, I should be more attentive in class and take the initiative to answer questions. Also, to improve my bicultural orientation, I will take bicultural in year3/4 and go out to places more often.
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