Day One.
the slightest thought of spending the next eight days with my bffs in China made me hystrical. major excitement was the expression everyone was wearing on their face when we were boarding the plane. however, six hours proved strenuous. everyone was clearly drained of the energy they previously boasted of. strong piercing winds greeted our face as we step afoot on the grounds of China. it was quite a scene to see all of us struggling to put on our jackets and screaming in delight of the cold temperature. beijing airport is like a replica of our very own terminal 3. the afternoon sunlight fell through the transparent structure, spreading light to all corners of the terminal. the place was oddly quiet and quite emtpty. we took a domestic flight to Shan Dong and were thrilled to find out we're able to 'exhale smoke'. ha ha. my friends and i found comfort at the back of the bus on our long trip to the hotel (-: first taste of local cuisine- terrible. but Jerome said we must treasure the food on our table. shared hotel with yi fan, yaye. hit the bed shortly.

Day Two.
woke up in wee hours, afraid to open my eyes for fear that it was all a too beautiful dream. sets off to Dong FAng Bilingual Experimental after a not quite fulfilling breakfast in the hotel. we were welcomed by a huge group of smart-looking students, playing band instruments. it was grand, and for a moment i felt like a queen making royal visits to school (ha-ha) they performed for us, showcasing their talents of playing instruments and i was totally mesmerized by their amazing choir. we watched xiang shen at night. i couldnt really figure it out what theyre talking behind their thick heavy accents, but just laughed along with the crowd. the last part of the show, however, was hilarious.

Day Three.
we visited the school again today and had art, music and literature lessons. it was a tad boring for me but i guess the experience alone, is worthwhile. after lunch, we headed to climb a small mountain alongside the basketaball players. the route up the mountain was rather long and it was a pretty uneasy feeling to perspire in such cold weather. the view was captivating on top, and cheered me quite alot (-: we had house-visiting at night. me and my friends were really (note: REALLY) lucky to have the family of Changzi to host us because they were such warm and friendly people. they bought us to someplace where we saw a sphinx thats like a thousand times bigger than us (no exaggeration), we had fun yes. the brother of the student who happens to be a restaurant cook, cooked a feasty dinner for us too. we exchanged contact details, and something funny happened on our trip back to the hotel. overall, they are really good hosts and us, as guests were really satisfied and happy bout it (-:

Day Four.
we visited the three kongs today.i got really fascinated by the stories that lies beneathe every little detail of those stunning structures.

Day Five.

We went to Qu Fu, and i felt like a member of a royalty again when we were welcomed by the students who clapped their hands continuously for a period of time. their warm-ness somewhat cleared the hazy weather that day. lessons were more interactive and lively compared to Dong Fang Bilingual Experimental School. friendly locals surrounded me and asked for my contact details. Some even shoved little gifts in my hands :-) literature was hard for me to understand but my newfound buddies aided me. the group of us sang an english pop song to a class of 50 over excited kids. we watched our very own basketball team beat theirs and clinched the medal. when its time to say goodbye, all of us silently hope that we'll get to see them again in some parts of our lives.

Day Six.

The day we conquered Mount Tai. it was an arduous journey up the mighty mountain and every step felt like my last. i made my way through the uneven steps with my friends. Joshua cheered me on and attempted to crack jokes to make me laugh (thank you). when we finally reached the summit, i was suprised to find out im the first few. the scene was breathe-taking and the cablecar ride down was just out-of-the-world.

Day Seven.

All hail beijing! We touched down on the capital of China. We went to Forbidden City and strong gushes of wind messed my hair and blew people's caps away. it was a hilarious scene. The palace is massive/huge/gigantic and the history that lays behind each corners of the palace intrigued me. Later that day, we went to visit the National Stadium and Aquatics Centre. the light the edifice emits is spectacular. it was such major upset that we couldnt enter into the two structures :/

Day Eight.

we visited the Great Wall today, and the place was flooded with diversity of people, both locals and foreigners. squeezing through strangers that lingered around only made me feel colder in the weather. when we finally made it to the great wall, we were treated with stunning scenery that i previously thought only appear in books. it was such fun to visit the symbolic monument of China :-)

Day Nine.
had some serious shopping business done :-D. shopping malls are brilliant. damaged done: an empty wallet to go home with. Took the midnight flight back to Singapore. It was emotional leaving China, the fun we had. the nine days would definitely be stored safely in a corner of my heart, never erased.

Love,
PrisC

Yifan

DAY 2

we went to dong fang shuang yu school today. it just seems weird ; like their way of teaching.
All the teachers there are very friendly. :D

We went to watch 'xiang sheng'. it was actually quite boring at first, but slowly it get more interesting. =D


Day 3

We went to one of the student house, today. All of them are very friendly. ( and they keep asking us to eat ;P) . our new friend"s brother is a chef and that dinner is the best. we chatted and i really hope to see her again.


Day 4

I think kong zi is a very well respected man. we went kong fu, kong miao and kong ling. We learned about kong zi and all the good deeds he did. i think he is very cool =D

1st DAY

When we reached there we,
check in to the JINAN hotel
then rest there
then have dinner,it was like
a feast...:Dthe food was like SOO MUCH.
They kept serving us food
The food was delicious
but some was strange
first day we did nothing
just checked in the hotel then rest

2nd DAY

We went to the school at JINAN
The name of the school is Dong Fang Shuang yu Experimental secondary school
I know it a very long name:D
Their student were so shy...
It was quite bored the 1st day but 2nd day was fun
We didn't take photos there:(
And btw i didn't bring camera:(haiz...
There's also not much thing during the 2nd day

3rd DAY

Went to the school
second day in the school
Did this in the ART lesson
The second lesson is Music lesson
It was fun,the teacher was humorous
he kept laughing and smiling
Then had lunch in the canteen
After school,we went to climb a 40 minutes mountain,it was tiring
It's easier climbing down
The weather was quite cold but we were all sweating
We still have to go to school after climbing that mountain
Today was a house visit day
We get to go to the student house
It was extremely fun
Their mother cooked delicious food for us
We get present from them =D
Really very FUN and INTERESTING

4th DAY

Today went to the other place

Which is QU FU

We went to confucius temple,confucius forestry,confucius mansion
After that we went back to the hotel to check in
Then went to the first floor to have our dinner
Before that we had permission for room visit
So we went up to my friend's room
But didn't relised that we were late
Mr ho was very angry.
Tomorrow we still had to go to a different school

5th DAY

Today went to the school

early in the morning

We sang songs

Songs-'WO HE NI' and 'BEIJING HUAN YING NI"

After that we went to watch the basketball match

YAY...=D

Singapore basketball team WINS...

After that we took a bus ride to Taian,

Cause we are going to climb mount taishan

tomorrow.

6th DAY

Today the first place

we went is Mt.Taishan

Although we start from the middle

but we had a long way to the summit

YAY!!!

When we reached the nan tian men,

the teacher already bought us KFC The food was nice but cold already

When we go down,

we sat the cable car

At night teacher let us go to the supermarket to buy

the things we need

Then went back to the hotel,

we ate orea while watching TV

FUN FUN FUN !!!

Flight to Beijing tomorrow

7th DAY

In beijing,

Took a bus ride to the restaurant for lunch
After that we went to the forbidden city
It's so big and nice
Next is the Beijing olympic stadium.
I thought we can go in but we can't
The watercube is very nice
Today i'm not feeling well also

i almost lose my voice

still got alittle voice...haha

Know a lot of secrets there haha

8th DAY

Today was suppose to meet at

7am at the hotel restaurant

but hui tian is used the morning so we woke up at 5am

the teacher woke up very early too

Then we went to the great wall of china

The senery was very beautiful.

9th DAY

Today we had time to go shopping

at some kind of shopping centre

Where we can bargain

But so coincidence,

i lose my voice today

Totally NO VOICE...

So i asked my friend to helped me

But don't have much time to buy

And it's very difficult for me to buy

We had to catch the plane tonight...

10th DAY

Reached S'pore at 5 plus in the morning

MISS my friends

Anyway we are in the same school...

so we can see eachother next year...

YAY!!!Finally back in singapore

XUEWEN

eh?

no day 9 meh?

chung hang Day 9(

my feelings are pretty numb because im really tired, there will really be a lot of people i cant forget and places that i want to go again.

chung hang Day 8*

the great wall of china really live up to it name. it was so long and it go up and down of hillz that you dont even know where it ends and where the nex connected place is. however it was even more crowded then forbidden city so we had only like 45 mins before we leave.

chung hang Day 7&

i think beiging is a really advanced place and it really somewhere that china can be proud with. the forbiddent city was really magnificent. however you still cant feel that air of forbidding probably cause of the crowd arouynd us. the "bird nest" and "water cube" was really nice as they were really nicely plan. the view of water cube was really very nice and it cant be describe, you really hav to go there yourself to experience it.

chung hang Day 6^

this is the day where we went to climb mt. tai shang. however we took bus and climb from midway. there was a student who was slow and i juz decide to keep her company while take photos maybe breathe some fresh air too. it cool when ur top of the mountain because you feels like ur top of everything in that mnountain. you will start feelin that the mountain is nothing. jinan history is also very old and complicated so it pretty hard to remember.

chung hang Day 5%

today we went to another school to observe them durin classes. they were very quiet but maybe only when we were around :D their classes were quite different from us because they uses chinese in everything. i also was very envy because the chinese they use were very profound especially during the poem lesson where i could not understand a thing....

chung hang Day 4$

"kong zhi" is a rly well respented man for his doing and his talent. i learn about his growth durin his young and found out that he was even rumour to be some1 who is snet by god.althought his after generation live in wealthy but not Kong Zhi. however he still work very hard in is life.

chung hang Day 3#

today we needed to visit one of the students house and this will be one of my bezt day of life. her home was very neat and pretty as theres a collection of barbies and other stuff. i also found out that in jinan most of the fathers know how to cook and HELP in cooking. b4 we ate our dinner we play a board game call "wu zhi qi". it was fun and the winner had to do something like a lucky draw. however the winner was one of the china student and she had to do singing. it was funny when she try to reject but in the end she sang. b4 dinner start there was 2 reporter came to interview us and it pretty annoyin as it break the atmosphere of fun. how the clever mum found a way to make them go away theirselve.my regret of the day was that i dint manage to get present for them.

chung hang Day 2@

the first thing we do today is goin to the school in china to make better relationship with the school there for what i also dont know. but i understnad their life more and it was really very intresting. when we left the school it was very late already and we went to watch a show call "xiang sheng". it the 1st time i watch it so im very excited.

chung hang Day 1!

after a long trip of plane which nearly make me vomit for the first time, we arrive at jinan, china. And when we arrive there we need to take a mini bus or something to the airport but im not tellin you why. Our dinner was eaten at the 1st hotel we will be stayin and i thought i was lucky. however their tofu taste like S*** and i dont even know wat im eating. but i guess it juz their way of making tofu. the worse thing is i cant open hotel room door, iq too low maybe but luckily some1 help me.

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day8)

We had MacDonald in the morning which was opposite our hotel. Following this, we headed to the Great Wall where we saw some bears of different species in their enclosures near the entrance. Then,we took some kind of roller cars up to the start of the Great Wall. It was fascinating and amazing as it had top and bottom peepholes for spies to look out for their enemies. Also, it was able to stretch from the whole mountain plain. After this, we had our free time to shop and have lunch. The shopping centre we went was quite modern, and I bought some figurines for presents for my family and friends. Next, we took a trishaw around the old Beijing town and I was surprised to find it beautiful though the design is simple. Finally, we went to shop for final items, where I bought a pair of jeans. The food there is very cheap, but I felt the portions given is too big. Anyway, we finished our trip and headed to the airport for our flight to Singapore. I really enjoy and appreciate this trip.

Yifan

Day 1

After a few hours, we reach china. It’s clean. I am getting really excited for the next few days. I am sharing room with Pris.C . Its going to be fun. I am looking forward to the next day. =D

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day7)

We had a heavy breakfast before going towards the airport. Before we left Shandong, we wrote our leaving messages for our tour guide there. Then, we took a flight to Beijing. I was sitting this time with two other girls. When we arrived at Beijing, we headed for lunch. After lunch, we went to the Forbidden City where we learnt about the history of the different scholars and emperors of China. Later, we had dinner which was average in taste. However, their attitude was very bad, fancy complaining that we were bad customers when they made us wait so long.
We finally took photos at the Bird Nest Stadium and Water Cube before checking in to a hotel. It's facilities were not very good as it had no cupboard and the toilet walls were greenish and small. Anyway, we had KFC for supper which was good. Hopefully, we will not see all this again.

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day6)

We started our day with a hearty breakfast. I was inexperienced in mountain-climbing, so I wore around 5 layers of clothing, two layers of gloves and socks. The mountain was actually 1450m high. We took a bus up to the mid-point,before starting our climb,which was around 800m high. The temperature there was slightly lower, so I was glad I had prepared enough for this climb. At first, I started alone, until I saw Hwee Yang slightly above me,who wanted to climb with me. We just chit-chat all the way to our first group meeting point. It was slightly more difficult than I thought,but anyway,we had our snack at the meeting point. It was a burger and a drink. We then continued our way to the summit which was around 150m from our first meeting point. Along the way, some of us bought onion pancake to eat. When we reached the summit, we took a photo before taking a cable car down to the mid-point. The view from the cable car was beautiful. After we reached the mid-point, we took another bus down to the base.

After this, we went for lunch. Me, Siravich and Hwee Yang sat with the teachers,but by my two friends' looks, they were not very happy to sit there as the teachers were very talkative. However, I felt it was OK as we will get to see the other side of the teachers and find out more about them. Later, we went to Hei Hu Spring, which had special characteristics, like the water there came from a cave, which had special purification rocks, making it more pure than normal distilled water.

We did nothing much until dinner. Dinner was one of the best I had in this trip. This time, it was me, Hwee Yang and Harrison which sat with the teachers. They kept on offering food to us. Then, we went to buy some last-minute stuff that we might need in Beijing. Some bought food and drinks, but I bought some Durian sweets for gifts. Later, before we went for tea appreciation,some of us performed songs on the bus. Yun yi and Rachel were the main characters of this show as they sang many songs for us. Then, it was tea appreciation which was boring except that it tasted really good. Finally, we checked in to our last hotel in Shandong, where we had to prepare for depature at 5am for Beijing. Me and Siravich played pranks on each other there. It was fun!

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day5)

It was time to go to Chifu school this particular morning. When we arrived, we were greeted by students holding banners saying, "Welcome all Christ Church students to our school for student exchange programme". We took a picture before being broken up in our groups for classes with the Secondary 1 there. For my group,our first lesson was Chinese literature where we learnt how to describe spring and autumn using famous phrases. I could only understand like 20% of what is taught as their Chinese is very good. Next, we had P.E lesson which was typically like those in Singapore. We learnt basic self-defence moves there.

After this, we had the China Sec 1 students asking for signatures from us. Most students even exchanged information about Shandong with me. To my surprise, when I offered to share the coins I brought from Singapore to them, they just politely rejected and even offered many One-dollar notes with me. Then, we proceeded for lunch,and I felt it was not as good as what we had in the previous school.

After lunch, we were taught how to sing "Welcome to Beijing", the official Beijing Olympic song. It was difficult to master this as the words were not very matching to the tune, so it sounded a bit funny. Then, Rachel and Jerome played the piano,and I would say they are really good.

Next, we went to see the basketball match. I did not really know the result as I was doing Monkey bars and jumping jacks during the match somewhere else. Anyway, the match ended in a peaceful manner and we headed to Tai An, where we will be climbing Tai Shan on the very next day. Dinner was pretty alright and then we went to our rooms. At the middle of my packing, Hwee yang needed my toilet as he and Harrison somehow jammed the toilet bowl in their room. Me and Siravich then spent the whole time packing and playing card games. Soon, both of us fell asleep, hoping to be able to climb up Tai Shan in 3-4 hours.

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day4)

We left Jinan that morning and headed for Chifu, which is Kong Zi"s(Confucius) birthplace and hometown. Firstly, we visited his house, which has been converted to a place of interest. We also learned about his life story at the same time. It is interesting to know that his parents found him a freak or something when he was born,so they dumped him in a cave. However, later they saw that the tiger fed him and the eagle fanned him when he felt hot. So, they decided to bring him home and take good care of him. He later became a very good scholar, and he served the emperor as a right-hand man.

After lunch, we went to the forest where he was buried after his death. It was nothing interesting. Then, we went to the temple built by his disciples. It was used at first as a memorial by his disciples, however, later it was used to worship him. People who visited this area would usually ask for good results from him. This was the area I liked most as it has some kind of value to me which I cannot explain.

Finishing this, we headed for our next hotel for accommodation before dinner. The hotel is slightly smaller compared to the first one, but it had more facilities. During dinner, some of us came down late. But, what was more interesting was that two girls pretended to go missing, thus delaying our dinner time by half an hour. Dinner to me was better than what we had at the restaurants outside.

Later, at night,we had to do reflection which was boring. The briefing for the next day was conducted, following some interrogation by the teachers for some students who were involved in this "disappearing" act. After this, we were asked to prepare for the next day's activities ,school exchange programme at Chifu Experimental School. It was an eventful day.

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day3)

We went to Dongfang School again. When we arrived, we went to the classroom to have our own lessons. Our first lesson was about Chinese poems and we learnt the different usages of sentences to describe some flowers. Next, we had music lessons where we learnt how to play the "erhu", a chinese instrument. We were also told of its history. Later, we had a small performance by Yunyi, who is in the Chinese Orchestra. Also, a student showed us how she played another Chinese instrument, the "guzheng".

After lunch, we went for our only mountain training at Qian Fo Shan(Thousand Buddha Mountain). It was easy to me, as it is not very high. Finishing this, we were broken up in different groups for classes with the sec 1s there. First, we had Chinese classes where the students had a test, so we just did our own things. Following this, we had Maths classes which was taught in Chinese. I was so surprised by their vast knowledge, as they were already learning up to Sec 3 maths. What was more surprising was that out of ten questions, most of the students got all correct.

We proceeded to house-visiting, where we were broken up in groups of four. We went to our China friend's house( I couldn't really remember his name) for dinner and sports. He lived on the second floor. The parents specially prepared dumplings for us to eat. It tasted really delicious and we also had fruits. After dinner,we had a friendly game of Chinese Chess with our China friend,where we all won. As it was boring, we decided to go for a game of Table Tennis. He is really good at this! We also tried out Chinese Calligraphy,which I was impressed by their writings. Before we left, we each were given a gift comprising of biscuits and paper cuttings.

Later, on the way back to the hotel, we got lost as the driver found our hotel quite remote. He took around 20 minutes to locate it. Finally we reached the hotel. We had to pack up fast as we would be changing hotel the next day. Me and my roommate, Siravich shared our fun experiences to each other and feasted on most of the food both of us brought back. It was a very fun experience as a whole. Hopefully, I will be more hospitable next when when I get a chance to host a family visit for foreign students.

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day2)

We had a hearty breakfast,before heading to Dongfang Bilingual Experimental School. The students there greeted us warmly and then we headed to the hall. Firstly, the principal of this school gave a speech. Next, Mr Ho also gave a speech. Then, all of us exchanged gifts,and i got two dolls. I really appreciate this gifts as they represent my friendship with the students there. The students then returned to their classes while we had an art class where we learn how to make a frog out of play dough. However, I could not make the hind legs well, so it looked like a tortoise. Follow this were exercises. It is fun as it kept us warm aand energetic. We immediately had lunch which was very healthy. It had fruits and vegetables cooked deliciously.

We finally left school and headed to Da Ming Lake. The water there has a constant temperature of 18 degrees, no matter rain of shine, hot or cold. We went to Fu Rong street,which was quite old. Next to it was a bookshop where I spent quite a bit on chinese books and magazines. We saw the 'Hall of Fame' of Shandong, which included famous Chinese people like Kong Zi(Confucius) and Zhuge Liang.

We went for Cross-talk appreciation. At first, I could not understand their jokes, but I slowly got the hang of it as time passes. After a tiring day, we returned to the hotel and prepared for tomorrow's activities.

Jonathan(Shandong trip- Day1)

Day 1 has nothing much interesting, because we were just flying to Shandong and nothing else. I have never seen Mrs Ang sleep so much. Miss Mardiana is such a bookworm,i noticed. (no offence!) The plane trip was so boring, all i did was read and sleep.

Later, we had a light snack at the airport while waiting for the shandong flight. I had just a bottle of orange juice and nothing else. Meanwhile i saw Daniel and the others play Chess. The way they play tells me that they look very happy. Finally, we flew to Shandong. The temperature there was very cold. Then we took a bus to our hotel, which was quite good. The food was average to me. After a late dinner, we went to our room to rest. The real activities starts tomorrow though.

Jade's

Day 1
It was 'areoplane all the way' . First flight was from Singapore to beijing. I was sitting with a few of the teachers and did not managed to get to sit with my friends. The flight was a six hours flight,so naturally everybody might have slept,and that of course includes me. The second flight was a domestic flight. It just took about like, 40 minutes. I sat with the same people again. Then after we reached,we were supposed to follow our group teacher incharge and mr Danny made a "great" example of asking us to stick to him. Well,im sure he does not want me to mention it here. haha. Then we took a bus to our hotel and on the way, the guide spoke to us. She sounded friendly. Then we gathered at the hotel lobby for a breifing and went to our rooms. My room mate was Jody. we packed our haversacks ready for the programmes the next day.

Day 2
In the morning,we had our breakfast and i wasn't quite used to the food there though.. But still have to eat what. then the first programme in the morning,we headed down to the Dongfang Billingual Experimental School. They welcomed us with their band playing some songs or something. Then we went into this room and they welcomed us with performances and gifts. Then we had a China teacher come in to talk to us about some lotus stuff. truthfully speaking,it was really boring. After that was some music lessons. It was much better than the lotus one. The China students taught us how to pull the er hu, and we even had out very own CHR er hu perfomance.. ha ha. Yunyi plays er hu in CO i think, so she played some song. Then from the class,we could see the basketballers playing matches,and apparently some people got high and mad. After the school,we went to DaMing Lake. And because this trip,i knew a lor of people,so i kept on going with different groups making more friends and also, take time to so called "bond" with my friends. haha. After visiting the DaMing Lake, taking pictures, looking at scenery? Then we went to FuRong street. It was some Alley with lots of roadside stalls. We walked around, getting to know what they actually sell. After that we went to some bookstore. As my friends and i thought that they only sell chinese books, which apparently isnt. So we did not really look at books. We just walked around chit chatting and playing. Then we had this cross talk. It was definately enjoyable and hilarious. But at the start,i did not really catch what they were saying cause they we speaking really fast, but after that, they crack jokes and that part,i understood. That night was one of the 'best-est' things in China.

Day 3
This day,we went back to the School again. But this time we had real lessons. And once again,it was boring. And why u suppose? Because their accent is really 'non-understandable'. i couldn't understand what they were saying,and hence,it was boring. We had science and math lessons. And their math paper was in chinese. I bet i could just die studying in China. *laughs out loud*
Then after that,we had some break or something. Then we went to climb Qianfo Shan. The basketballers joint us. Then there was this point,i went to the toilet with some other friends,obviously with one of the teachers. And when we came out, they were far gone. So my friend and I, we ran all the way to catch up with them. We did catch up with them,but we had to catch up with something else...our breath.. LOL. okay lame. So we walked and chatted at the same time. And when we reached the top, few of them seemed breathless. haha. Mr Hu said that mount. Taishan was like three to four times more than this. But im prepared (: We went back to the school for more lessons. Then it was home visit. Jasper,Marie,Jody and i were grouped together to go to the same house. They were really friendly and they introduced some of their culture. And they were so friendly till the extend of Jasper being "suffocated" by a gigantic dog. And wait,did i mention it was a gigantic toy dog.. haha. Okay,but seriously they were really great hosts.

Day 4
In the morning,we travelled to Qufu. By the time we reached,it was lunch time. So we ate at Qufu.Then we went to visit the Confucius temple,mansion and forestry. And this trip should have been arranged before my history project, cause it was on Confucius.. haha. Well,all the buildings looked the same and i dont have much interest in such things actually. But it was fun actually because there were fun people.. haha. But overall it was still okay. Some stuff still managed to catch my eye, like that two dustbin together looking like two small huts..alright,joking. Then we travelled to the hotel. Nothing much to elaborate for this day.

Day 5
We went to Qufu Experimental school. And that place was like really cold,and they make us stand there and take photos.. great.. haha. alright,then we went to this room, i dont really know if its a class room. Then had some breifing and we had lessons with the students. Our first lesson was P.E. We did track and field. Had some mini races, like baton passing those type. Then next it was english lessons. So the group that went to the same class room as me were all very excited. Finally some lessons that might interest us. But we all ended up feeling very bored. Im being very frank here. haha. Not trying to criticise them, but it was kind of boring because they learn simple english. Well,of course, their man language is chinese.. haha.Then we went back to the room we first arrived and everybody gathered. The china people showed 'tom and jerry' . Well,cant deny that you'll not feel lame watching it right. Then Rachel and Jerome played the piano, it was really nice. After that,we went to support the basketballers in their match against Qufu. And CHR wont. *clap claps.. Then we travelled to taian.

Day 6
This day was one of the main reasons why i wanted to come to this trip. Challenge myself with the mount. Taishan climb.. haha. So we started climbing.. Climbed a very long way already. Then only we saw this sign board saying "climbing starts here". And we all like 'sian diao'. And because of some previous illnesses, i wasn't in my best health. I felt breathless all of a sudden, and it was really our og the blue i jus felt breathless. No warnings no nothing. haha. Then i jus slowlyslowly made my way up. Then at the Nan Tian Men (or something) we had our lunch. Then we continued our climb to the summit. And it wasnt some short climb like (i forgot who) has said. And RachaelQuek climbed with me. Then the joy of reaching the summit was really great. To touch that board that says the height of mount. taishan and everything, to complete a climb was really a nice feeling. Then we walked another route back down to the Nan Tian Men and took a cable car down.. Then we went for lunch and i kind of forgetten what happened next.

Day 7
We woke up earlier than usual,because we had to board the aeroplane and fly to beijing again. And this time,i was really happy with the seats. Its those type of small jet planes with only one aisle. Here's our sitting arrangement :
18A : RachaelQuek , 18B : me , 18C : Jody
(aisle)
18D : Orathai , 18E : Jeremy , 18F : Harrison.
Its like we all were sitting together. Then for the whole flight,i was talking to RachaelQuek, while the others slept. Fun time chatting with her. After our arrival at Beijing, we went to TianAnMen guangchang. Then there's this MaoZheTong there on the building, SUPER big..haha. Then inside is the Forbidden City. At first i was excited. Because my formteacher showed us some pictures which made the Forbidden City look so interesting. Then when i went there, after walking about ten to fifteen minutes, i thought that it wasn't as nice as in the photos. Quite disappointed actually. Then we went to some sucky restaurant for dinner. Yunyi,RachelThng and i were not feeling well, cos the place was filled with smokers,and the air was filled with smoke. And i hate being a passive smoker,let alone being a smoker. Its worst. Then we all were not feeling well. So Ms Tay suggested we go to the second floor and join the basketballers.Which actually makes not much difference. And when we met all our friends. They told us there was some great show going on. After dinner,we went to look at the Olympic sites/venues. Like the Bird nest stadium or something. And the Water cube. then we took group photos and went back to the hotel and had KFC for supper..haha.

Day 8
We went to great wall of China. So we took this some sort of "car" or sth,its some what like a rollercoaster but it isnt very fast. Just some thing you sit on and some metal gears and chains move it. Well,the great wall of China wasnt anything much either. We went on a sunday and obviously it would be swarming with people. We couldnt get any further and just stopped and took photos..And i was like gaping at how "great" the toilet was for a sight seeing place. Wonderful man... -.- so 'clean' . But seriously,its a sight seeing place and they should make effort to keep it clean. If its some funny alley of course nevermind.. Then after that,we went to this like sea or something. And we had trishaw rides. The Trishaw rider said that place was 'shi sha hai'. Then the wind was nice and cooling. After that,we went to this shopping centre to have our dinner on our own and we could go and shop. The place really looked like bugis street. But that place got nothing much to be bought as souveniers actually. So just walked around looking at what i can actually buy. Then i managed to get this white colur headphoes. Its really very cool, nice too. And i bought it for only SGD$19 around there. And Daniel says in Singapore,it sells around SGD$33. He said "i've earned it" haha. Then we proceeded to the airport and OFF,we were back in Singapore the next morning.

Rachael

Day 1
Took a plane to China, Beijing,and a plane from Beijing to Jinan.
we then took a bus to our hotel, gathered for a briefing, and went into our rooms.
Orathai and I packed our bags, and then went to bed.

Day 2
We took our breakfast before heading to Dongfang Billingual Experimental School.
Their students welcomed us with their band and some performances.
After that, we went to Da Ming Lake and Fu Rong Street before heading for a Cross-talk appreciation.

Day 3
We went to the school again, and we had Science and Math lessons.
After lunch, we went to climb Qian Fo Shan, and then headed back to school.
Then it was home-visiting time, Jeremy, Harrison, Orathai and I went to a twins's house.
their family is really friendly, and we played games together.

Day 4
In the morning, we took a bus all the way to Qufu, and we visited Confucious Mansion, Temple and Foresty. After that, we went to the hotel to have a little rest before Dinner.

Day 5
We went to Qufu Experimental School. We had PE and English lessons there. After lessons, we went to watch the match between Christ Church and Qufu Experimental School, and then travelled to Tai An.

Day 6
We went to climb Mt. Taishan. After climbing, we took a bus back to Jinan, and visited the Hei Hu Spring, then we went back to the hotel to have dinner, and got ready for the next day.

Day 7
We took a flight back to Beijing, and we had lunch there. After lunch, we went to the Forbidden City, and then to Tian An Men Square. We visited the Beijing Olympics Stadium in the night.

Day 8
We went to the Great Wall, and visited the Yi He Garden. After that, we took a flight back to Singapore.

Siravich-Day8-2 Nov 08

We went to the Great Wall.It's 6000 kilometres long!!!I wonder how they built it.The place was very crowded.We took some kind of "cars"both up and down.In the afternoon,we had lunch and shopped in the mall.This mall is similar to Causeway Point.It's modern unlike another shopping centre we went in the evening.It's was totally different.The stores were packed together.the good thing is we can bargain.I bought a hood which can't be worn after all.There were some hairy thread thing stuck at my shirt when I wear it.We then went to the airport to check-in and wait to board the plane around midnight.I CAN'T wait to go home.

Siravich-Day7-01 Nov 08

WELcoME 2 Beijing.We went to Tian An Men Square and Forbidden City.The wind was very strong that my cap flew away from my head.Luckily,I picked it up in time otherwise.........In the evening, we visited the National Stadium and the Water Cube.They turned on the lights and the sight of it was awesome.We had KFC for supper today because we didn't enjoy dinner.The staffs at the restaurant were unwilling to clean the tables for us.They made us wait for 30 minutes.Forget about it.I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we can go home.Yahoooo.............

Siravich-Day6-31 Oct 08

We Did It!!!!!!!!We reached the summit of mount Tai San.It was cold but comfortable up there.We only climbed from the middle to the top,not from the base.It was tiring but cool.I hope I can climb it again.During the climb,I was touched by my friends' kindness.From the start,Priscilla Yau climbed up with me .We encouraged one another to go up the summit. On the way, we met Yi Fan.She bought a bottle of coke and shared it with her friends including me.I was very impressed by that."Friendship is beyond money".We rode a cable car back to the base.It was my first time trying it.It wasn't scary like some people thought.That night,we had tea appreciation and checked in at the hotel.

Siravich-Day5-30 Oct 08

Good Afternoon Teacher!We were at Qu Fu experimental school.We had a chance to attend Chinese lesson in China.How lucky:) They studied poems and memorized them.When they read the poems ,I just followed them blindly because there were a lot of words I didn't recognize.Willingly,the China girl beside me helped me along.Before the lesson ended,the teacher asked our group to go in front of the class and introduce ourselves.We sang a few songs for them too.It was cool.Right after that,my nightmare had come.One China boy asked ME to SING a Chinese song.Oh MAN!!!!Fortunately,I knew one song so I just sang.It was so embarrassing.Anyway,I managed to get over with it.Afterwards,we exchanged our emails with China friends.They even asked for our signatures.It was the first time someone asked for my signature.I was very happy.Some of them gave me China coins both ancient and modern ones.I really miss them.

Siravich-Day4-29 Oct 08

Who is Confucius?some people may not know this person.In fact,I myself too,am not very familiar with this person.We visited Qu Fu and had learnt a lot about Confucius.When he was young,his parents abandoned him because they believed he ,who had ugly appearance ,was a jinx.They left him in the forest,but he did not die.The tiger fed him when he was hungry.Whenever he felt warm,the bird cooled him down.After his parents heard this piece of news, they brought him back home.He strived for success despite facing difficulties along the way.Eventually,he became a famous philosopher.From Confucius's biography,I realized that one shouldn't give up easily.Perseverance is a key to success.This trip was really valuable for me.I encourage all my friends here to persevere like Confucius.Success is just in front of you!!!!

Siravich-Day3-28 Oct 08

We attended lessons at the same school.In the evening,we had family visit.My group(Myself+Rachel Thng+Priscilla Yau)were assigned to one China boy's home.His name is...I forgot!He is a basketball player.His family lives in a flat(just like our HDB)His dad is an artist while his mom is a housewife.We were taught to do Chinese drawing.There were a couple of reporters coming to take photos.Whenever they wanted to take picture of us,we quickly turned away.In the end I requested the two girls to let them take a photo.Poor Reporters!!!Dinner time.They cooked a lot of food for us including dumplings(main dish).Normally ,they don't eat rice but have dumplings instead.I played chess with a boy and you know what? I lost to him 3 consecutive times!Well,he didn't say "check" when it's my turn.After my move,he simply ate my king.IT 's unfair,right?Most of the time ,we talked to the boy's aunt who can speak English.She told us that she had been studying in USA for a number of years.No wonder she spoke so fluently.Before we left the house,the parents gave his own Chinese drawing collection and biscuits.They also sent us to the hotel.I was ashamed of myself because I didn't buy anything for them.Today was the most memorable day of this whole trip.I will remember this forever....................

Siravich-Day2-27 oct 08

We were back in school! How excited(like real).The school name was Dong Fang Bilingual Experimental School(what a long name).We took some photos with the teachers and students there.Then we moved to the hall and watched some musical performances which were interesting!There was a China boy who can play a few blowing instruments.The sound of those things resembled a chirping of birds..The choir there sang better than our school(no offence).We were given tokens from the Chinese students.A boy actually gave me a doll.I found it well....uncommon,but it's okay.I appreciated it.Next,We had Chinese lesson.It was boring because I did not really understand.The teacher spoke TOO fluently.After that,we had music.I got a chance to play Er Hu(Chinese instrument).It wasn't hard and wasn't easy.......In the afternoon,we visited Dar Ming Hu.It's a canal or whatever thing you call it.The scenery was indescribably beautiful.Before dinner,we got to learn about some important China people who had contributed to the society.There were boards setting up around that place
,telling us about individuals biography.At night, we watched a show at a ancient-looking kopitium.It was like a comedy show.I loved it!!!

Siravich-Day1-26 oct 08

Finally,we reached Jinan airport.The temperature was quite low and I was freezing...First,my hands and fingers went numb.After that,my lips started cracking.Anyway,it wasn't that bad because we got into the bus and it's warm inside.We had our dinner at the hotel's restaurant.The food was....honestly tasteless.I was full though I didn't eat much.However,surprisingly,the 2e4 girls who seated at the other side of the table were eating ENJOYABLY.How weird.......It's time to sleep!I hope tomorrow's activities will be fun.