Some pictures we took during the OELP :)

           

       

       

Trip Advisory

Improvement: 

Timetable for Huangshan:

We hope that there would be a better timetable management. It was a pity that we did not have the chance to witness the sunset / sunrise. This segment could be included because we were all anticipating for that item. Although we did enjoy the 8km hike as a class, we felt that it would be more meaningful and have a greater sense of achievement if we saw the sunset/sunrise. We can end of the previous day earlier so that we can have ample of sleeping time and set of for huangshan earlier the next day.

Fengle ecological park:

We did not visit the fengle ecological park even after much research on that place. It was a pity for the sudden change of location. The school could have better communicated with the travel agency to avoid such things from happening again.

Iflytek:

There could be a better planning on the activities because there was a lot of free time when only half of the class was introduced to their technology. They could have planned more meaningful activities for us to do and experience.

Baogongci park:

We feel that some of the informations in the baogongci park could be found on the net thus i think that it wasn't that necessary for us to stay and visit that place for such a long time which also made most of us very tired due to the heat. Not only that, we also weren't able to hear the tour guide clearly, lowering our efficiency.  

School immersion:

We had only visited the school for a few hours and it was a pity that we were not able to thoroughly experience China's culture and education system that was very much different from that of Singapore's. It would be more fulfilling if only we got to spend more time interacting with our buddies!

Xidi and hongcun:

We felt that the time given to walk around and shop was a little insufficient. The souvenirs sold at these sites were unique and full of China's unique flavour. However, we wished that we could be able to, perhaps, have more free time, to explore these ancient villages and their special features ourselves, as well as having time to ourselves to buy gifts for our love ones!

Tangyue:

We could have more time to shop at that place since the souvenirs sold there brings out China's rich and unique culture. We could have also spend more time looking at the architectures there since that place also contains china's heritage. We felt that it was a pity since we did not buy as much souvenirs as we expected thus if we had more time there, we would feel even more satisfied. 

Must:

Singapore Creative Technology Hefei

High speed rail:

It is a fast mode of transport for us to travel from Shanghai to Hefei as compared to the bus ride we took to return to Shanghai from Hefei which took us around 6 hours. It is also a convenient mode of transport and its a special feature China since not many countries have this facility just like Singapore. We were also able to witness and appreciate the breathtaking scenery of China thus we think that the high speed rail is something we must experience.

  

Continue

Li hong zhang:

The visit to Lihongzhang former residence was very informative and i definitely learnt many things after the visit. We already had some background information about lihongzhang since we learnt about him during our history lessons before thus the visit to his former residence was able to allow us to link back to what we had learnt before. Not only that, we also understood his significance in the China history and was able to see the links in the China history we had learn thus we felt that it was actually quite an interesting visit.

remove:

Huishang big house:

We feel that the huishang big house was a not a necessary place to visit since the place wasnt able to completely bring out the heritage and culture of China. The huishang big house was actually refurnished to give people just an idea of how this house looked like thus its new look was not able to make me able to experience how was it like living in the house last time. Thus, we feel that the huishang big house can be removed.

Meiling:

We felt that it was unnecessary to visit meiling since the tour guide there wasn't able to bring out the unique feature of their company. We also weren't able to learn much about China's technology development since the tour guide only brought out the unique features of their refrigerator but not how their company affected China as a whole.

Shexian:

Before and after we visited Shexian, we also had went to many similar historical sites and what we learn from all those places was very similar. This Shexian place was not very memorable since it did not really had a unique feature and we did not buy souvenirs from there too. Since there were already so many historical sites throughout our whole oelp trip, we feel that shexian can be removed so it was not a very signicant learning visit thus we felt that this place can be removed.

Add:

Shanghai bund:

Instead of spending so much time on transport on the last day, we could have went to shanghai instead and visit the places there since we all know that Shanghai is a world class city. Also, we were actually told to compare Shanghai and Hefei but since we weren't able to visit Shanghai, we also weren't able to make the comparison thus we feel that it is a pity.

Comparison between China and Singapore

Group Work 

Differences:

-Singapore has a smaller population as compared to China. 

-Singapore is a multi racial society unlike China, which is made up of Chinese mainly. Singaporeans experience the different cultures and heritage of different races and we learn to be accepting towards the differences between ourselves because we still belong to the same country. Singapore consist of races like Chinese, Malay and Indian. However, when we went to China, the only race we see is the Chinese and this is also one of the reasons why Singapore and China have a different culture. Singapore is a westernized country thus it's culture is mainly from the west. 

-China is a developing country while Singapore is a developed country.

-China has more space and resources for economic development than Singapore. In Singapore, even though we are a developed country, we have very limited space and resources for anymore development while China on the otherhand, has plenty of space and resources for development. (With this in mind the Singapore government wants to take advantage of this and become trading partners with China. Ranked the 9th largest trade partner with China, this proves to show that even though we have our differences, China is more of a friend than foe to Singapore.)

-China has a richer history as compared to Singapore. With that, China has more historical preservation campaigns and projects unlike Singapore. These rich history and culture can be used to educate current and future generations and at the same time, it is a tourist attraction, leading to the inflow of money for their country. In this aspect, Singapore is losing out because we are focusing more in the upgrading of our country.

--Singapore and China have different educational system:

-Lessons are conducted in english here whereas in China, it is in chinese. This once again brings up the topic that Singapore is a westernized country. English had become Singaporeans' first language because we converse mainly in this language. In China, we realized that people could barely speak english and their first language is chinese since they mainly converse in that. 

-They have a 10 minute break in between every period while Singaporean students do not get that privilege. However, the cons of that is that China's students get released from school as late as 5.40pm, while Singapore students get released at around 2.15pm

- It is not compulsory to take up a CCA in China however, for holistic development, secondary students in Singapore are required to have a CCA.

-China has more of their own brands that they have invested a lot of money in, to export to the other countries so as to widen their business partnerships and have more inflow of money. However,Singapore do not have as many personal brands exported and made aware of for the rest of the world. Hence, we lack in this area of development.

What makes China?

Group Work: 

China is made up of its people, delicacies, rich culture, talents and many places of interests that we can visit now.The rich heritage and culture of China gives China its identity. It is significant as people recognizes China with its unique and long past. China has a deep and rich history and their government had been preserving most of the culture and history. Places like Li Hong Zhang residence, Baogongci Park, Sanhe guzhen, hongcun villages , Shexian big house and many other places are preserved till this date. They have been one of the key sources for educating the current and future generations about their culture and values and those values are somehow what we see in the chinese today. The chinese we met have shown us great hospitality and we were all gratified by that. The optimistic students we met at the school immersion all had a pleasant disposition and they were an enthusiastic and passionate bunch of people in learning.The students are all working hard to fight for a place in the society so as to bring China to greater heights. 

China is also a country with huge land space. The large amount of land and huge manpower gives China the freedom to develop their country. Due to the huge amount of land space, it would mean that China has a lot of resources and that would mean that they would not need to import materials from other countries to for industrialization. The population of China makes up 1/7 of the entire world, making China a world-known country. The result of the high economy status of China now is the hard work of the Chinese over the years. 

Their delicacies also gave China its identity. It is their food; the origin of those food is China. They bring pride to the chinese and their country because it belongs to China and it came from the people in the past. The traditional food that are still present today brings out their culture and history even more. All in all, China is made up of different things and is unique in its own way.

Learning points about either chinese culture/heritage or economic development

Amos: (economic development)

I think economic develop is really important to China. As China is developing really quickly now,with a population of 1.3 billion, China recently became the second largest economy and is increasingly playing an important and influential role in the global economy. Needing to cater to the immense population is not a easy job for the government, by developing economically, there will be a inflow of money into China and the country will become richer and thus the citizens in China will become richer with them. Economic develop will also improve the standard of living in China and which is only a luxury that certain areas in China gets to enjoy.
 

Entong:(economic development)

During the trip to China Anhui, I found out more about the economic development of China and learnt more about it. During the trip, we visited the ifkytek company which produces all the technology softwares and products from China itself. I could see that China's technology is very developed as it has it's own similar softwares as Apple's Siri. China's developed technology would also then show China's increasing economic development as all those technology requires much funds. Also from the Meiling company, I also learnt more about China's economic development. Meiling company produces many high technology refrigerators which again also requires a lot of funds so as to produce them. From the school immersion, I realised that classrooms also have high technology screens and computers which makes the teachers easier to teach as they don't have to use the mouse which saves up a lot of time. China's economic development allows all these technology products to be used everywhere, anytime which really made things easier for the Chinese. Although we didn't visit places in Shanghai, I could see all the skyscrapers and tall buildings during our bus trip from Anhui to Shanghai. This showed how wealthy China had progressed to and how much their economy developed. China is willing to spend money in developing the country and their technology thus I could see that China's economy is really very developed.

Fernanda:(culture/heritage)

After the trip to a few of china's heritage places like the Li Hong Zhang residence and Baogongci Park, i have learnt about the importance of culture and heritage to the Chinese. China has taken many actions over the years in preserving their rich history and as a visitor who visited those places, i could somehow empathise with how the chinese felt about those great people from the past. They were the influential people who contributed greatly in the past and they are one of the key people who provided China with a good foundation, leading to china's success now. The values or rather rich culture that they have are all preserved for current and future generations to learn and the heroic figures are also positive examples for the chinese to learn from. By preserving so much of their culture and heritage, it not only showed me the importance of those influential people but also how the chinese have developed a sense of appreciation to the contributions of the past generations. Although China is constantly advancing towards a modern city, places like sanhe guzhen and hongcun village are still preserved. The government chose not to modernize those areas and some of the older generations who are attached to those places are still living there. I respect the government for that because with their given capabilities, it is easy them to modernise those areas. 

Qianyu:(economic development)

Although China is a "developing country", but they have been putting in enormous amount of effort to improve their economy and status. With all the factories and products that China has put out, they are now one of the largest manufacturing economy in the world. Through this OELP trip, we have visited several factories and companies that produces products and apps to reach out to more audience and sell them, so as to help boost the economy of China. Examples of which are MeiLing, a refrigerator company then has produced and innovated many refrigerators for the people's comfort. We had also visited their factory, where everything runs in an orderly fashion and awed all of us. We were amazed by their determination to work hard and bring wealth to their company and also, their country. We had also visited iFly Technology, where they produced an app for XiaoMi, China's very own line of hand phones, that makes people's everyday life much more convenient. This stretch in technology would also help to improve China's economy. All in all, from the trip, I have learnt how despite the fact that China is a huge country and there are many rural areas yet to be developed, their status in economy is still able to stay at the top due to their many innovative ideas that reached out to audiences outside of China, and thus bringing them where they are now in terms of economy.

Suikiat:(economic development)

China's economic sector has left a great impression on me as it managed to progress so much in such a short span of time. Just a few decades ago, China did not have such a robust economy but now its place in the financial market is near the top. The startling progress is unimaginable and thus it left a great impression on me.

China currently has its own brands to compete with multinational companies, with companies like meiling which is exporting its products to the rest of the world. Also, we visited the iflytek research facility, which showed us that the Chinese were not only just competing by exporting its products, but also researching its technology to outdo other countries. Hence, in conclusion, China's economy has taught me an important lesson: As long as you work hard as smart, it doesn't matter if u start late, you will catch up eventually.

OELP to Anhui, China (reflection)

Entong:

Personally, i feel that that this 7 days trip to Anhui was really a fruitful experience and it was very memorable. The trip was very beneficial and informative as I really learnt a lot more on the history of China. When I was on the high speed rail travelling from Shanghai to Hefei, I realized that this mode of travelling is really very convenient and it saves up a lot of time since we took nearly 6 hour to travel from Hefei to Shanghai by bus. The high speed rail attracts tourists, thus increasing their economic development and also affecting the world's economy. During the visit to ifkytek and Meiling company, I learnt more about the technology progress of China and I also realized that China's technology is actually very developed, which is different from what I expected. Their developed technology is also one of the factor that caused their fast developing economic. For the School immersion, I feel that it is a really very meaningful experience. I was able to experience the school life of those students living in China and I have to say that it is pretty much different from ours. Their curriculum, their way of teaching and even the attitude of the students were different from us. Throughout the whole trip, I also visited many historical places and learnt more about those famous historical characters such as Li Hongzhang and Baogong. I learnt more about the traditional beliefs in China such as woman are not allowed to step out of the house and that males are superior to the females. The historical places we visited such as the traditional houses showed all the traditional beliefs thus it can also help to educate the current generation to abolish those thoughts. Not only that, I could also tell that people then had to rely on one another as they had to wash their clothes in a shared lake thus showing why people in China are so united as one. During the visit to the former residence of Li Hongzhang, I learnt more about how he contributed to the currently modernized China and how significant his role was to China. The visit to Baogongci also taught all of us that we have to be honest. Not only did the trip provided me with more information, but it also made me realized something that is more valuable which is class spirit. During our 8km hike up the Huangshan, although it was a really tough and tiring journey, all of us managed to overcome it with all the words of encouragement from our friends. The whole trip definitely made our whole class more bonded and the class spirit shown was really unforgettable. In conclusion, I feel that this whole trip is very unforgettable as there were many wonderful memories made. Although it is a learning trip, I definitely enjoyed myself and also gained more knowledge.

Qianyu:

This OELP trip to Anhui has been an enriching experience as well as an enjoyable one. I believe the entire class has enjoyed themselves thoroughly during the short one week. Throughout this trip, we visited several historical sites like the 包公庙 and definitely learnt a lot more about China history and how these figures in the long history of China contributed to helping to build the modern China today. Also, we visited several companies and factories that contributes to the economic growth of China, which was surprisingly one of the world’s strongest economic forces albeit their world rank. Besides that, we learnt a lot more about the products they produce, like how Mei Ling produces their own brand of refrigerators and sell them to the public which would definitely improve the economic of China. We also got to visit Mei Ling’s factory which allowed us to witness the orderly and systematic fashion in which the factory produces the refrigerators.

The short two day visit to the school in Hefei also opened up our eyes on China’s different culture and how different the schools there worked compared to Singapore schools. After every lesson, the students get a 10 minute break, for them to properly rest their eyes so that they would be more focused during the next period and this was something we all envied. However, the downside of this practice of having breaks in between lessons is that the students would have to leave school at a much later time than Singapore students. Where our school normally ends at 2.30pm, students there leave school at as late as 5.40pm. We also got to visit huangshan, one of china’s most beautiful mountainous areas, and got to see before our eyes how spectacular the view from the peak was. We also learnt from our tour guides about the countless types of floras and faunas thriving there, and I came to realize that China was a place that is rich in natural resources, be it for medical purposes or otherwise. Also, we had to climb a total of 8km to get to peak, a process which was definitely not an easy one and taught us the importance of persevering till the very end, as the view was definitely worth the long climb.

This OELP trip was also an opportunity for our class to bond. Through the trip, the class has become a lot closer, no longer just sticking to their own cliques but instead hanging out with everyone in the class. Playing games during dinner just so we finish the food, taking care of those people who are sick, cheering each on while climbing Huangshan, it is these little moments and subtle moves that make us treasure the times we have together more. The teachers, Mr Liu, Ms Teo and Mr Zhong were really friendly and patient with us as well, making us feel comfortable and instead of treating us like student, we were treated as though we were their friends and thus the class and the teachers got along really well and I would just like to thank these three teachers for their care through the entire trip! Overall, this OELP trip has been a really fruitful one and looking back, there was not a moment where I did not enjoy!

Fernanda:

Personally, I feel that this trip to Anhui China was a great exposure for students like us to know more about the development of another country. I benefited from this trip in a way that I got to know more about the differences and similarities between our country and China which I cannot simply just understand from Google. I feel that we are very lucky to be given this opportunity to attend an overseas learning trip and get to learn beyond the classroom.

Through this trip, I realised that although China is still a developing country, their developing speed is far faster than I had expected. Visits to places like the Meiling Company and iflytek gave me an impression that China’s advancement in technology is huge. It shows me that they have a strong desire to improve themselves and the country so as to lift China’s status up. However, their development in technologies did not stop them from preserving their rich history and cultures. The Baogongci Park and Li Hong Zhang residence amazed me with their different ancient architectures and display items. Many of the moral values held strongly by the past generations were all over the place, educating the current and future generations and even visitors like us. I feel that the Chinese are appreciative because by preserving their culture and history shows their acknowledgement and gratitude towards the past contributions of the great people like the Bao gong and Li Hong Zhang. I feel that this is something many of us can learn from them. I feel that Singapore is lacking in this aspect of preserving most of our culture when compared to China.

The school immersion programme was one of my favourite during this trip. The education system in China is rather different from Singapore’s. They had a longer curriculum period but frequent breaks in between lessons. They had a strong determination to do well in their studies.The students showed their enthusiasm and passion in learning. I felt really inspired by the students there because their enthusiasm could sustain throughout all the lessons. They are all fighting for a spot in the society so as to provide themselves with a higher standard of living.

The 8km Huangshan hike was another highlight of this entire trip. This was one of the key moments that bonded our class as a whole. The climb was quite tough but the reward you get after reaching the peak is one of the best things you could ever imagine. The view from the peak was scenic and breath-taking. I personally liked the part when we kept on encouraging one another while climbing the mountain because we could really feel the 2F spirit and we definitely got closer to each other after this trip.

I enjoyed the trip to China very much not really because of the location but rather the company and memories we created together during this trip. It is definitely one of the key moments in my life and I have learnt to appreciate my class even more now. Thank you to everyone who made this trip a wonderful experience!

 Amos:

The OELP trip is a once in a lifetimes chance to go overseas and learn about the cultures of China together with my classmates. As China is currently modernizing at an incredible speed and with a population of over 1.5 million people which is the most populated country in the world, thus it is important that we learn about the culture and language of the Chinese republic as when we enter the working world, we would have a very high chance of interacting and doing business with them. As many people say, Chinese is the language of the future, this not only shows that we have to learn Chinese language, it also shows that it is important to know more about their culture as we can use it to our advantage the next time we do business or design something for the Chinese public with a population of 1.5 billion people in China. The Chinese market is something investors, companies and businesses would want to target now and even more in the future as the population in China keeps on growing. As the younger generation and the generation that will be doing the business with China in the future, the school wants us to be prepared and learn more about the culture of China, thus the OELP trip. Upon arriving at the different places we visit in China, we could see the difference between the past and the present. From ancient villages such as Hongcun ancient village to the huge production lines of Meiling, it's evident that China still treasures the old while they are modernizing really quickly. With a history of over 6000 years it is, impossible to 

learn all of China's history. However, by learning bits and pieces, we we can
understand a little more about China which will be really useful the next times
when we enter the working world

Suikiat:

I feel that the trip to anhui was certainly enlightening and it expanded my view of the world, allowing me to see what the conditions were like for other people in different parts of the world. I feel that anhui is quite a remarkable city when taking into account that the whole country modernised just in around 50 years. The city was quite advanced and there were even research facilities to improve the technology which countries developed for the needs of China's own people. Hence, we can have a rough gauge of how much china has developed, from a conservative monarchy into an advanced first-world country. Of course, china still has  room for development as there are many poor cities and rural areas in china, which all require the government to step in and change the way of lives of the people for the better. Hence, to conclude, i feel that china has improved a lot in the past 50 years and though there are parts where the people's lives are very bad and the government really needs to do something, china has done a relatively good job when compared to third world nations like Kenya and Nigeria. It has progressed much faster than those countries and caused other countries to respect them as formidable opponent.