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