Daily Reflection- Ya Wen

Reflection for Day 1: 

Today is the day where we set off for China. From the smiles plastered on everyone's faces, I could tell that this trip was a long anticipated one. On that morning, we took the plane from Singapore to Hangzhou, a total duration of merely 5 hours. When we reached Hangzhou, it was already evening and we were brought to a restaurant for our dinner. There was a variety of dishes and from our meal, it could be seen how rich China was in terms of resources. Our dinner consists of fish, meat and vegetables and these took up the entire table. After dinner, we had a night visit to Song Dynasty City and enjoyed a spectacular Song Dynasty Performance. This city preserved the culture of Song Dynasty, the golden era ancient China. While standing amidst the long ancient streets, I could imagine myself time traveling back in time to the Song Dynasty, where everyone led a leisure and peaceful life. After exploring the streets, we went to see a performance that tells the happenings during the Song Dynasty, such as the imperial court, the army and even the myths and legends spreading on at that time. All of these were consolidated into a breath-taking one hour long performance. Like they mentioned, “给我一天，还你千年” , I really learnt much from today's trip to this city. I also realized how much the Chinese value their history and culture, such that everything is so well preserved up till today. Also, the fact that the Chinese has made these places a successful tourist spot, shows how much pride they have for their history, such that they want the world know of China's past. This left a warm spot in my heart. Thinking back, isn't that just how Singapore has pulled through to reach it's place today? A country's fate rests on every single citizen, not just the leader. Singapore is widely known to be a great country to be visited. However, if we hadn't survived through the Japanese occupation or fight off those deadly diseases, Singapore would not have developed till today. Just like China, there are still many icons currently that reminds us of our history such as the Merlion and the samsui women figures we have in Chinatown. Thus, I learnt that as descendants, we should not forget our past no matter how good life is. Anyway, after watching the amazing performance, we checked into the hotel and ended our first day.

Reflection Day 2: 

I used to think that most products made in China are just modified and changed from other products which are already available. However, after my visit to the Wahaha Company, I changed my point of view. Now, I think that the Chinese are very innovative people who came up with new creative ideas that can be put to use in our daily lives. An example is shown by Wahaha's founding father ----- Zong Qing Hou. He started building this cooperation from a small street shop independently. From the first product that he made, it could be seen how innovative and smart he was. While at that time, there were many different types of product on huge market, but there was hardly any one which pinpoints the children. Seeing this point, Mr Zong created his first product, a nutritional drink for young children, and it was a great hit among the people. This caused me to rethink and reflect on the previous concept I had in mind. Also, I learnt that I should not look down on those who modify and change only as they are still contributing to the society in their own means and ways. Modification is a very important process in making a product better for the society. Without it, products would not be as convenient as the ones we use currently. Of course, a good product cannot be created with just these few processes. The great effort put in by every single worker cannot be neglected. Each successful product consists of team work in every process and I think this is the most important point. Only when everyone work together can we achieve our initial goal. Despite the fact that I have learnt it many times in the past, every time I come across this concept again, it always brings me to a new level of knowledge. 

Reflection Day 3:

I used to think that China was a very modernized country. After visiting Hongcun ancient villages and Xidi ancient villages, I now think that China is still a very traditional country that has amalgamated well with western inventories to the point where China is now a widely known country that has great advancements while keeping the culture and heritage in the past. From the streets and villages I have visited today, it could be seen that ancient Chinese culture and heritage has been well preserved over the years. Yet, some of these items, which have been passed down since thousand of years ago, have been implemented with modern technology to form familiar but new products. This is done so as to allow business to continue and not let China fall behind other countries. Thus, it is now wonder why China's economy grew so well over the past few years. Today, China's socialist market economy is the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product). It is the world's fastest growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over the past 30 years. With China being the centre of the region’s growth story now, Singapore has a lot to consider in terms of how our economy growth would be affected if China was to slowdown their economy growth. Looking around us, many objects we see are either made in China or exported from China and this shows the importance of China as our trading partner. With high hopes, China's economy would keep growing and perhaps, help increase Singapore's overall economy as well. 

Reflection Day 4:

Today, I visited China's famous Huang Shan and the beauty of Mother Nature amazed me. I used to think that China's government focused more on economy and education, instead of taking more notice on the culture and heritage of China as I have seen how good the Chinese students are in their studies. But after my visit to Huang Shan, I reflected on my thinking again and see that I was in the wrong for judging China from its state currently. Now, I think that China's government actually did pretty well in preserving the history/culture/heritage of China even when the country's economy and education play a bigger role in China's development. At first, Huang Shan was a mountain with no way for any tourists to climb. However, China's government has implemented the roads, built cable cars and constructed different restaurants and hotels in Huang Shan. There are now many tourists here and they are willing to pay to sit in the cable cars or even stay in the hotels just to catch the once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of Huang Shan. That is a sign to show that China's government has done well to preserve and showcase the mountain to others while having considerations for the country's economy. This is a point which Singapore has used and it could be seen from us being known for our tourist attraction despite being a small country. With the successful tourist attraction we have, we are proceeding well in our economy and emigration statistics and I hope it would last long. 

Reflection Day 5:

Today, we visited Meiling Company and through the dialogue session we had with the guide, I learnt many business strategies from Meiling company. Meiling company focuses mainly on constructing our household item----- the Refrigerator. One of the market strategies they used was to combine the fridge with a phone. It amazed me seeing how I can play music, games, or even check out new recipes on the refrigerator. This is definitely one technique that is successful in the market. I'm glad I learnt new business strategies here. I hope they would come of great use when I grow up.

 

Reflection Day 6:

I used to think that learning Higher Chinese Language was meant for passing my examinations only. Now I think that the Chinese Language is a very important language that carries a lot of culture and heritage with it. We have a lot to learn from this language passed on from many thousand years ago in the past. I have seen how the Chinese students work hard to achieve the best academic results they can and this learning attitude of theirs touched me. Come to think of it, I haven't been at the best learning attitude every time we have lessons which is not in my favour. Seeing how the students pay full attention to the teacher speaking in class, I reflected on my attitude again and again. It is time I should change for the better. Sometimes, I become complacent in learning and I would start to chatter in class or such. I realize that's when I don't learn anything new and start to fell behind. From now on, I think I should give my 100% of attention to every lesson even when it is a lesson of topic I do not like. This is the only way I can give myself a chance to learn.

Reflection Day 7:

Today we visited our assigned buddy's house. It was tremendous fun! Seeing how our buddy have lived throughout these years, I realize there isn't much difference between us despite the fact we are living in different parts of the world. I learnt that we should not have prejudice against one another even when we might have an impression beforehand. We should not judge a book by its cover as what we see might not be the truth. For example, I thought that china students would lead a life that only concerns with education and not much fun as I have heard of how china lay stress on their education and this left an impression on me even before I have met them in person. However, when I visited their living environment, I realized I was wrong and this made me learn to not have prejudice beforehand. My buddy and her family were very friendly and we had much fun visiting the nearby wet market, the supermarket and their park. As we parted one another in the afternoon, I had much thoughts. I wondered when we would see each other again, if fate was with us and that someday we would meet one another again...

Reflection Day 8:

Today was the last day of our journey in china. I believe everyone were sad to know that we would be leaving our friends today. Nevertheless, we still kept our smiles and tried to enjoy this last day together. We went to the Hai Di Lao Restaurant and ate steamboat for our lunch. We watched the waiters and waitresses perform "拉面" and we were lucky enough to catch a special activity they held to celebrate the upcoming children's day. Their service was really good and I think that's why their restaurant is so famous. The waiters and waitresses were like brothers and sisters. Their close bond is most likely what brought them to their good service. I think this is a point we should learn from them. As a class, there are many activities we have to work together in order for it to be fun for all. If we treat each other like brothers and sisters, I'm sure team work would come naturally to us. After lunch, we went to take the bullet train to the airport and took a plane back to Singapore. It felt great to be back to my homeland. I missed Singapore a lot while overseas. This whole trip has made me learn to treasure what I have now as things don't come easy to all of us.