Day 30 - Museum & Dong Hu

Today, we are going to visit the Wu Han Museum and Dong Hu for our final excursions of this trip. We were informed that we were not provided lunch when we are in Dong Hu, so we decided to make a 03 picnic. So, we decided to wake up alot earlier to make the food for the picnic. We were running late from cooking the eggs and sausages in limited space and time, so we had to take turns to change to try and maximize the amount of people that we have, which is 4 girls. -.- And we were wondering where Tan Si Hao was, since he is the only guy that can eat the sausages and we found out that he was sleeping. -.-





Finally, after rushing out the sandwiches and sausages, we ran to the bus with small and big bags. I am sorry to those who had to wait for us, AGAIN. From school to the Museum was just a short bus ride, however we were all very tired from waking up early to prepare lunch, so we quickly fell asleep on the bus. After I fell asleep, i felt 2 knocks on my head, but i ignored it and quickly went back to my la - la land. When we reached the Museum, i asked Hazel if she felt two knocks on her head during the bus ride. Turns out, when i was sleeping, my head was moving and i knocked against her head. =p Sorry Hazel.

When we reached the Museum, we had to wait outside the security guard post, to clear entry for us to enter the Museum. Also, there was a bag check in the guard house, to check if you brought anything that may harm the visitors and the artifacts in the Museum. It was very interesting that, to visit a Museum, the government is very strict about what visitors may bring into the compound. It indicates that the government is very protective about the artifacts, as it contains the information of how the people lived in the ancient past and it is the glory of China.




After the security check, we entered the Museum compound. It was enormous!!!! The walk to the Museum building was already a long stretch of road and there was a hamburger store in the compound. It was very contradicting, as the Museum houses artifacts from a long time ago, while hamburgers are a modern food that are consumed by people from a recent era. We were allowed a short time to take photos before entering the Museum. So Cynthia quickly pulled us for a group photo.





When we entered the Museum, there were about 4 levels of artifacts that belonged to different era of China's long history. Firstly, we entered the category of Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zheng. Marquis Yi was a feudal kin that died more then 2400 years ago. The tomb of Marquis Yi was located at Leigudun in the suburbs of SuiZhou in HuBei, and it was excavated in 1978. More then 15,000 artifacts were unearthed; including ritual vessels, musical instruments, lacquered articles, gold ware, jade ware, weapons, chariot parts, harnesses and bamboo slips.


















After visiting the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zheng, we went on to the next exhibit, JiuLianDun. It was a continuation of artifacts of the Tomb of Marquis Yi.












When we were about to continue the tour of the Museum in the second floor, when the tour guide told us that t was time for us to go. So, when we went out, we took some 03 photos, as we are the only 7 that wore matching shirts.





After visiting the Museum, we took a short 5 minutes bus ride to Dong Hu. In Dong Hu, we had alot of fun playing in their theme parks and walking around enjoying the beautiful scenery.


















After visiting the Museum and Dong Hu, we headed back to our dorm and bid farewell to the tour guide that accompanied us throughout this whole trip.



Reflection

After the trip to the Museum, i have accomplished one more goal of trying to learn more about the rich Chinese culture and history. Now, i have deeper understanding of 5000 long years of history. Also, i also learnt about how the Chinese values their heritage and their morals. By setting up security posts and bag checks, i am abl to understand that the Chinese value their rich history very much and are willing to spend money and take time to keep what is left of their past in mint condition. Also, I have truly understand how large China is. Dong Hu is a lake, that is the size of our reservoirs. That is very large in comparision to Singaopore.

Loves, Charmaine

Day 29 - Coke factory!!

TGIF (Thank god it's Friday)!!!! Today, the only activity that we had, was to visit the Hu Bei Provisional Coca - Cola provisional office. Which only means 1 thing, free coke!!!! I hope.

We were suppose to gather at the entrance of the university at 8 30am to start the bus ride of over an hour to the factory. But we woke up earlier and went to order Tan Si Hao's cake for his birthday celebration tomorrow and get our breakfast. In the end, we we were late for over 5 minutes. To those that had to wait for us, I am very sorry.




After the bus ride, we finally arrived at the factory. After all of us departed from the bus, we were quickly brought to the function room to watch a short clip of the history and facts about how Coca - Cola has become the world's most respected beverage company. After the short clip. the staff from the company asked us some questions where the answer can be found in the clip and the person who gets it correct, gets a small gift.



We were then brought onto a tour of the factory. The tour guide told us that the factory was closed for the day to do maintaining and cleaning, so the process that we saw were all maintenance. The machine were all very complex and many staff were hired and trained to continue the daily operations to provide many different beverages (Coca - Cola has many different sub branches that manufactures many other beverages to increase the business volume and retain the consumers).






After we toured the manufacturing process, we went to the gallery of all the different commercials created for Coca - Cola and all the different bottles used over its long history. We took many group photos which can be used in our IS module's video.












After visiting the gallery, it was time to return back to school. But before going back, some of us took drinks from the refrigerator and we ran back to the bus, hoping that no one saw us. =p




Reflection

China is a large country that indicates that the amount of beverages that they are able to consume is also a huge amount. To have many branches of the Coca - Cola factory located all over China, the amount of drinks that they can produce is a stunning number. Therefore, helping to satisfy the consumer's need to have a bottle of Coca - Cola and boosting the number of jobs available each year and the overall country's gross revenue annually. By visiting the Hu Bei's branch of the Coca - Cola factory, we are able to learn about; the process where the world's favorite beverage is created, the history of Coca - Cola and the way where the machines are opereted by the trained staff.

Loves, Charmaine

P.S China's Coca - Cola taste awesome!!!!^^

Day 28

12 more days before we are back in the warm and clean Singapore!!!! I will really miss this place that I have stayed in for over 3 weeks. =( The food is leaving me for more, the scenery that we got to see was exceptional and the people that we get to meet on this trip will become our life - long friends that we will get to meet again when they come to Singapore for studies =)

Today was a free day for us, so we woke up at our own free time and had lunch at our nearby fast food restaurant, Pa Le (similar to KFC). While eating our lunch, we started to talk about how we have felt through out this whole trip. We will miss this place terribly and we actually do not mind staying here for another 6 months. The plan that we came up with, was that we return back to Singapore to drop all our luggages down, repack new clothes in and fly back to Wu Han to stay. As for the financial matters, our parents can transfer our allowance into our back accounts at the start of each month. =) For people who understands me, you will know that before coming on this trip, I am not really very keen. But after staying here for 3 weeks, your whole perceptive will actually change. So, the next batch of OIP students, you will not regret coming here!!! You must trust me!!! ^^



After having lunch, we walked back to our dorm to get ready to go shopping at Jiang Han Lu. We are going to buy Si Hao's birthday present, so Fathuallah decided to join us today. The plan is, even if Si Hao has decided to join us, it will not matter. As, the guys can pretend that the gift we bought for Si Hao was for their own use. In the end, Si Hao decided to continue to blog, so he did not join us. NOT MEMBER!!!

When we reached Jiang Han Lu, we walked the path that Fathuallah and Si Hao have walked before, to try the Soup Dumpling that Si Hao have highly recommended. The shop was located right next to a fire station and we could here the firemen having their practice or training inside. After shopping around, we went to the shopping mall to find Si Hao's present. After looking for awhile, we went into the shop where we frequently visit. And all of them suddenly decided to get the "hot - blood" shirt to make it a 03 outing when we visit the museum on Saturday.







We came back to the dorm, right before curfew time and had sausages for dinner. The sausages is really very good, and I'm thinking of bringing it back to Singapore.



Reflection

The streets of china are always very crowded, with no traffic light and no traffic police to keep the traffic smooth and safer for the pedestrians. So, when I saw a fire station that is located right next to a busy food street. I felt that it was actually more dangerous for both the pedestrians and the the people who actually needed help from the fire. If there is an emergency, it will be very difficult to disperse the people from the street to let the fire truck drive off.

Loves, Charmaine