our trip to China

2006-11-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

TERRA COTTA WARRIOR...

This is a photo of the founder of the 8th wonder...

This are some photos how the warriors are arranged..
The floor were rammed with earth 45cm thick and paved with bricks in order..

The pottery warriors and horse were stuck together from hundreds of broken pieces..

2006-11-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

HISTORY MUSEUM!!!

Bells are kind of percussion intruments which fall into two catagories the singulary bell and the chime bells. The former refers to a bell hanging by itself and the latter means the bells are arranged in order according to its size.

2006-11-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

Big Goose Pagoda

The temple was built in 648AD to honour the empress wender by the tang croenprince Li Zhi.The pagoda is 64.8m high with 7 storeys.The body of the pagoda is a square brick pagoda in the range of chinese national character and the tang style.It is a model piece of Buddhist architecture.The pagoda now is most important historical monumen so they must protected it..

The Buddhda

The 2 BIG hands..

This is how all of them lit up their joss stick..

This is how they put the joss stick after praying...

2006-11-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

Forest Of Steles Museum

This Museum is a history of more than 900years. It had about 3000 stone tablets , it also had a concentration of the best of the Han and the Tang-dynasty stone carvings,relieves and sculptures.This place is also China's largest stone library of ancient literature and historical records and last of all it is one of the earliest national agencies cultural relics for the preservation of important cultural relics.

This is how they prepare/make a stone tablet.

They brush the words so that the craving is clearer.

This is how they ink the stone tablets.

2006-11-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

THE GREAT MOSQUE

The place we bought our entry ticket to the mosque.

SEE this is the mosque entrance..the mosque look like a chinese temple pattern ya..

There are chinese characters inside the mosque on the top of the wall.

This is a photo of me in the mosque.

2006-11-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

Ancient City Wall...

This is a photo of the front of the city wall

In the city wall u will be able to see this two different walls...actually they do have a reason to why they made one a shorter wall and the other a higher wall..
the reason they made a shorter wall is because that act as a place to let the soldier climb up from the ground..and the higher wall is to protect themselves from being attacked by the enermies and the slot in between is to hide there and shoot at the enermies in secret...

Some transport vehicle they used last time to transport goods...

WEAPONS

Last time they use to use bow & arrows as their weapons but of course also CANON !!!!

2006-11-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

MUSICAL FOUNTAIN !!!!

The fountain is just like sinapore's musical fountain is just that singapore one is made into something like a drama but this musical in china is mainly only music and water spraying...

2006-11-18T09:19:00.000-08:00

Some Extra Photo Of Mt. Hua Shan

A photo of me & Alisa at the top of the mountain...the scenery very nice right...

HAHA..We are lucky enough that we are able to sit the cable car up if not we will need to climb the very long , steep and high path up the mountain...climbing up to the mountain can take a few hours while sitting a cable car just only takes around 30 minutes to get up the mountain....=P

WOW!!! u know on the way up the mountain we can see water fall like this..nice isn't it?? well so sad singapore don have natural one but maybe manmade? =X

Seee all this locks..at first i was very curious y is the lock locked on a chain at the top of the mountain..well our tour guide told us that the china people believe that if a couple locked a lock on the chain with their names written on it means their love will stay forever...isn't it meaningful...?

2006-11-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

On the day of departure !!!

This picture was taken on 30 nov'06 when everybody were very excited to go Xi'an..but to me it was quite a tiring journey to Xi'an because of the long hours sitting in the plane...and also the transiting to a domestic flight to get there....

This is just a photo of Xi'an culture.

About the School (Tie Yi Zhong)

WoW!! see their hostel like so high class...printed on the building so BIG and somemore in GOLD colour..haha..

This is the girls hostel..Wa they pack their things so neat and tidy right...

NEXT, some calligraphy work done by tie yi zhong students...fantastic..very nice yeah..(i cant even take a brush properly to write..haha =X)

. OUR BLOG GROUP MEMBERS

2006-11-13T01:31:00.000-08:00

Photo Blogging Time.!~

a sideward view from Huashan

the other peaks on Huashan. Apparently the route there was too narrow so we couldn't go there. Also it'll take at least 5 hours to travel there. :|

view from the top of Huashan, down to the "valley" below.

a rainbow that emerged from the man made waterfall at the Tang's Paradise,

more of Huashan.

the route up to Huashan. well, technically this ain't a route up. Just a phase up the mountain. :))

2006-11-13T01:19:00.000-08:00

CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN CHINA part 4.
o1: locks on Mt. Huashan can bless a couple with togetherness forever.
it is said, by the tour guide that if a couple climbs up Huashan and engrave their names on a lock, they can enjoy a lifetime spent together.

an engravement of a couple's names.

red strings are tied on the peak as well.

people climbing down from the house on the mountain.

the next few photos are taken on top of the city wall. some of them are taken on the way back from Mt Huashan. Hope you'll enjoy em;)

on the top of the city wall.

the long way ahead.

cannons and other artillery on the wall.

flags flying high.

the room across from the point where we were.

on the way back from HuaShan. I wanted to take a photo of the agriculture but it passed quickly.

another scenery.

my hosts.

Mount HuaShan

The writings on the wall.

the view from the cablecar.

2006-11-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

we're back!
arrived yesterday atabout 11+pm.
tired out.
miss home.
happy.

updates on China.
the weather got colder.
during the last few days there, the weather got colder so we had to wear slightly more clothes and gloves too.
but it was really fun going sight seeing and filming my trip to the Tang Dynasty and many other places.

CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE IN CHINA PART 3
o1: the dancers are really commited.
you can see by the way they move and by their expressions that they really love dancing. we saw the cultural dance at one of the theatres there. The dance is about the Tang Dynasty hence the name. The striking poses, the costumes, the shimmering jewellery and intricate movements, wow, I was really amazed at how rich the chinese culture really is. My apologies for not having a video of it. My camera sucks the life out of the batteries so I didn't have a chance to catch it on film but really, an eye-opener for the chinese here in Singapore. So if you do go to China someday, do try to catch one of the cultural dance shows.

o2: there are museums running aplenty.
there's a tablet museum, agricultural museum, plant museum, museum of relics from the Tang Dynasty, the dynasties museum, ShaanXi history museum, insect museum, silk museum, and more. Well, the silk museum's just a miniature one because it's within the silk factory itself but it still teaches you how silk is made, like a museum so..yea..but anyways, the museums there are pretty interesting too. The Shaanxi museum and dynasties musuem are kinda together so..yea..but really, it's interesting.

o3: the people there seem to like trees a whole lot.
trees are seen everywhere, even in the museum. The tablets museum has a very scenic view. Trees everywhere.haha. On the road sides, outside homes and everywhere you go, trees are like the main attraction of it all. -_-"'

o4: r-e-s-p-e-c-t is the most important value of them all in schools
you can see the difference between the students here and there. Respect is given to teachers there, lots of it. Instead of saying thank you to the teacher[xie xie lao shi] , they say have a rest teacher[lao shi xiu xi]. Hence also showing that they value their education as they know it's hard to get. They also respect their peers. I think each student is given a red cap and assigned by class which days they have duties. So, every morning, you can see a different student at the school gates and sweeping school grounds. They do not attend lessons till they've finished and the rest of the school really respects each individual by not retaliating when locked out of the school.

o5: everything costs money.
literally. The hotels there really suck money. Comfort comes with a heavy price tag. Switching on the telly can cost you a fortune if you sit there for hours. The few of us in the room daren't touch or use anything lest it costs money. The room service also costs. Ordering a bowl and a pair of chopsticks costs 20 yuan. That's the deposit. You pay them but they return it to you after you check out or on the spot when you return the utensils. This is so that you pay them if you break the utensils. :)) that's why chinese people are shrewd businesspeople.

o6: everything edible is oily.
the soup is oily, the meat dishes are oily, the omelettes are oily, the vegetables, even are oily. This might be the reason for our students puking and diarrhoea. To come to China, your stomach must be trained for such circumstances. :| though oily, the food is delicious. meat vegetables soup noodles and rice. love love love <33

07: hugs are normal
Students there give hugs to show their affection or appreciation. It's a form of expression. Don't be surprised if someone hugs you coz' you gave them a present. Nothing like a hugey hug to cheer you up eh?

it's now 10.30pm and i'm beat.
will update more tomorrow.
so till then, turrah!

2006-11-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

THE PHOTOS!

Xi'an Airport from the outside.[Apparently, i'm getting a familiar feeling..it looks like KINTEX.*dramatic music plays*]

My host's bedroom. With the hard bed...and our two lil' "sleeping bags".

The taxi has grills to prevent robberies.

look at rule 4 :
students who are late have to kneel down and beg for forgiveness.

PAPER CUTTING!
sorry for the sideward pictures.
this is the culture of most people here. They use paper cutting to express their everyday lives or emotions.
Interesting....

2006-11-01T17:25:00.000-08:00

Rafidah

Its been four days we are here. i feel like i'm part of this school already
i also feel that i'm part of my foster family. They are very nice but sometimes very strict to us till we are very annoyed. but then again it is still ok to be wth them..hehe

ok2 back to our topic on thier culture.
In their house, they will always eat first then they do their homework before they bath. Sometimes they will not bath and go to sleep right after they bath..
when they are eating, they would want all of the family to be together and eat together.
As usual, they would use thier chopstick and bowl to eat their food..(haha like who didn't know that)

In their school, i don't see much of their culture but during art lessons, they stii use their ethnics to their artwork. for example, papercutting some animals, face mask some ancient faces...vey interesting..

until here first k...the culture about the rest, i'll blog some other times.. Don't forget to check out some of our photos being uploaded later k....See ya.. :-)

2006-10-31T20:59:00.000-08:00

it's a big wonder to me how the students here can actually be so disciplined.
the prefects here wear a red cap instead of badges because they already have a school's tag.
they can stand up so fast after the teacher dismisses them just so that they can greet the teacher.
they pay so much attention in class,
they well, give alot of respect to the teacher.
most of all, they are only 12 years old.
some of them at least.

every morning, they wake up at 6.30am
if you wake up earlier,
the other buildings around you are still pitch black.
that's sort of the culture there.
by 7, everyone's rushing.
To work, school or for the fun of it :))
the students have to reach school by 7.40am.
if they're late, they have to beg on their knees to enter the school.
so..

THE CHINESE CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE HERE IN CHINA part 2:
1: education is valuable.
As mentioned earlier, if the students are late for classes or school, they have to go on their knees to beg for forgiveness and be allowed back in. Also, the people standing at the gates every morning is NOT the teachers or principals but the school prefects! so actually, the prefects are given alot of power in the school and they are held in great respect by the students.

2: olympic math is taught at a very young age.
Kids as young as 9 years old are already doing olympic maths. They have a whole collection of such books in the library and it's frequently borrowed i guess. They are trained to think creatively and quickly so you can kinda get a rough idea on how they do math eh?

3: they are shy to aproach new people but very friendly.
Day two: we entered the school for morning lessons. Walking through the gate, the students were staring at us like...we're aliens from outer space. but after alittle introduction and declaring that we can speak mandarin, they approached us like a mob and shook hands with us!(they think singaporeans cannot speak mandarin but only english:)

4: people there love to exchange currencies.
some of them approached us asking if they can exchange sing. dollars with their ren min bi.They love gold coins too.

i can hear alot of typing sounds.
SO RANDOM.
anyways,
the culture here is pretty much alike Singapore but it's different in alot of ways too.
That, we'll explore some other time.
till then, turrah!~

2006-10-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

ScHool CulTure!!!

On the second day when we came to tie yi zhong we were shock to see the ways the students greeted the subject teachers... like they greeted the teacher without dragging their feets and taking their own sweet time...they were very attentive in class...they were also very responsive when the teacher asked them questions... they always took initiative to help us when we catch no ball....

We also got shocked to see them having lots of stamina when thry are doing their sports...like they continuously skip for a long time and they also did lots of stunts using the skipping ropes without complaining...the basketball girls were all very tall and were all good runners...and also not forgetting their basketball skills, were fantastic that made us fascinated =) !!!!!

On the third day...during the science and technology lesson, we learn to build LEGO robots...it was very difficult but with the students in tie yi zhong who were experts in robots, we manage to finish it , though we never approached them for help [because they took initiative =) ]....the students in tie yi zhong were very helpful but also quite shy... like during the maths lesson they did not dare to sit with us until the teacher told them to do so...well we felt that they were all very good in their maths though it was our primary school subject... their maths questions were all very challenging and needed alot of thinking...and the fascinated thing we found out about them was they do not need to use calculator regardless how big is the number is...

Staying in china for 3days made me impressed on their school chinese culture... we really got to learn lots of thing and the next few days we are sure that it will be an enjoyable day for us!!! =O

===>> Sugar , Lynette , Sze Qin <<===

2006-10-31T04:27:00.000-08:00

backtracking...
day 1:
reach Changi Airport at 6.00am++.
checked in.
said our final goodbyes.
entered the gate.
waited some more for the plane to be ready.
boarded plane.
slept.(for awhile)
BREAKFAST!
we had a sip of apple juice or orange juice(or whichever beverages you want)
ate and slept some more.
*stop*
basically, our first day was mainly the flight there.
we reached Guang Zhou at about 1pm.
boarded the flight to Xi'an at 4.30pm.
reached Xi'an at 7.o6pm.
the principal of the school was there to fetch us as well.
:)
we took our luggages and stuffed them onto the huge green bus and took the smaller buses back to the school's hostel.
we reached the school at about 8pm and was greeted warmly by the students we hosted while they were in Singapore. :))
they helped us(alot) with our HEAVY luggages.
we're really appreciative of that.
we entered the louging area near the hostel and had a little supper.
the two principals of the school gave their speeches along with a student translator(Jesse).
we all cheered and we finished the Nescafe coffee they offered.
we were happy people then.(now still since we were getting along real good with the pupils there)
our names were called out one by one so as to allow our hosts for the home stay to recognise us.
Suganthi and I arrived at the home and were given the biggest shock of our lives.
Not only do they have a bath tub. Their security systems are the top-notch in all of Xi'an and ... they have a bath tub!
happy happy happy. :)) see my smiley?
anyways, we took supper and had a shower before turning in.
now comes the exciting part.
THE CULTURE OF CHINESE PEOPLE LIVING IN CHINA.
apologies for no pictures.they do not have USB ports here hence the pictures cannot be uploaded. (To the people back home in Singapore. Really, appreciate what you have now because here, it's not THAT well advanced yet so alot of things cannot be done as efficiently)
1: the beds are hard.
do not belittle this so-called,at first glance "uncomfortable mechanism". This bed can do wonders for your backbone. As Lynette kindly explained earlier today, soft beds tend to harm the backbone(I don't know why) but hard beds really straightens your back though it may be uncomfortable at first.
2: bicycles are all the rage here.
Take note: it's environmentally-friendly and it's efficient. In Singapore, hailing a cab is a piece of cake-y but there, peak hours are the worst. There are tow of such hours. Mornings at about 7am and in the evenings at about 6.45pm. In Xi'an, you can see bicycles everywhere. Along the streets, in schools, everywhere well, except for train stations and all other inaccessible places. In Tie Yi Zhong, they have a HUMONGOUS bike stand in the school. It's about the size of one DNT workshop so everyone back home, if you love to cycle and you LOVE cold weathers, Xi'an may be the place for you!
3: the food there are oddities to local Singaporeans but absolutely DEEELIIICIOOOUSSSS!
i must emphasize hence the multiple typings. My home stay host cooks delicious vegetables and chicken. MMMM.... though the food there's alittle on the oily, salty side, once you get the hang of it, it's pretty good! :))) candice loves to eat <33>
* this computer can't see my blog so if there's some errors or big spacings or huge letters, bear with it*
4: they wear slippers at home.
the host's family wears slippers at home. actually, all families there do so too. It's requires a little getting used to since the cold weather's frozen the parquet flooring :P

5: (Did i mention their beds are hard? yes I did.) hmm. the teens here use a software called QQ to chat online.
A friend told me QQ works really slow but it's a rage amongst the youth in China. It's a local chatroom so it makes stuff like language barriers alot easier. safes them the hassle of changing the language every time they want to chat. To those who want to make new pen pals. SIGN UP FOR QQ.

okie.
that's all I have for today.
I really hope you guys can send us your love by typing a little message or two on the tagboard and we'll be glad to reply if it's possible to see the blog here.
anyways, i'm going to go shower so, till next time, ADIOS!

2006-10-27T04:59:00.000-07:00

countdown to China trip: 2 days and something hours.

i am excited.
really.
can't you see my thrills?
whee.

*how monotone-d.that's how it's like without exclamation marks.watch the difference..*

i am excited!
really!
can't you see my thrills!?
whee!~

*feel the difference?huh?hehe.good job explaining candice.[pats self on back]*

stop it man.
hahas.
okok.
really.
i'm extremely excited for this trip because we're going to so many destinations.

A BRIEF INSIGHT

day 1: arrive at Changi Airport terminal one at 6.35am.

check-in
wait for the boarding at 8.35am.
get on the plane.
off we go!~

day 1[again]: transit at Guangzhou.

more waiting.
board the SAME plane to Xi'an.
happiness in the air.
2 hours flight to Xi'an city.
happy..shalalala, it's so nice to be happy..
dinner at Tie Yi Zhong.
sleep.
day 2 and moo-re: 1 CLIMB MT HUA SHAN.
2 visit the Hua Qing Hot Springs.
3 go to the terracotta caves.
4 HOME STAY
5 school attachments
6 visiting the museum
7 and more! keep checking this space..

as you all can see,
the places we are visiting is indeed exciting and alittle trecherous[the mountain]
but i'm still excited.
sha la.
you must keep checking this space because we'll do our best to update all of you on our trip there.
OH YES.
this blog space is mainly for the culture of Xi'an city hence the title.
do not fear!
there's still our sub-logs...
click on the other links at the links column for more info. on Xi'an city because that'll be our personal blogs.
do come see!

till the trip,
stay healthy everyone!
zai ji chang jian! [see you at the airport]

2006-10-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

Wat Our Grp Will Be Doing???

Well, my group members are qutie excited towards this china trip as there will be a competition in the projects that we are assigned to do...this trip to china my group will be doing anything about cultural..YES!!! we were lucky enough to get this topic as it is quite easy and we like this topic as there were definately many different cultures that we could learn from there...and i am sure their culture over there are very much different from Singapore...So do u think this is an interesting & exciting trip...???

Nevertheless...i still think that the most important thing that all groups should have is cooperation and of course also willing to help each other when there are doubts...well hope that this will be a smooth trip...WITH NO FLIGHT DELAY !!!! HaHaHa !!!! =O

{Lynette} =)

2006-10-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

date today: 18th october
date to leave: 30th october

; countdown - approximate 12 days and something hours.