Sunday, September 20, 2009
the trip to Yi Chang started as early as 6.30am
eating ice cream in a cold weather is a wonderful cool feeling. I would not get to do it as often because Singapore has such a hot weather and there is not a change of weather due to season change.
scenery on the way to three gorges
this is the restaurant where we ate our lunch at
our lunch; the very first time which I felt I can actually eat everything finish as the dishes suit our taste. They are more qing dan (simple) than the other dishes we ever ate before.
this is my tour guide, Xiao Zhao.
the bridge as the background
the warnings/ notices to tell visitors what not to do or have
the ticket to visit the three gorges
one of the tour guides for the tour around the three gorges
the model of the yangtze three gorges
which we will be going through and see for ourselves in reality when we take the cruise
some photos taken as we went around the places:
what english translation is this?!
this is the postcard I sent to my family (: hopefully they will receive it soon.
this is the dam, which we will be going through. It is such a big project done.
Riding across the bridge in a bus to another place in three gorges.
A "house" for rubbish; different design of rubbish bin from what we usually see.
Though dinner is not as nice as lunch, it still acceptable. The rice is in a small bucket is like refering to chinese words 饭桶.
and this is roll of tissue papers, somewhat like roll of toilet paper though not as rough and thick.
This is where we all waited to board the cruise. When it was time, we went through this building and long flight of stairs in sight. Down we went and through other cruises, we arrived at our own. It was more like a ship and you cannot compare to singapore's cruise as singapore's is too high of a standard.
my room number in the ship; roommate is millison. (:
our room. luckily for us, there wasnt any mice or cockroaches around, hence no need for pest control.
me and wenliang went to explore.
Soon, we all slept and woke up at 6am. Breakfast to be eaten at the common room at 6.30am.
The noodle was the first time I came across and the taste was nice. The breakfast was filling too as the food suit my taste.
After a full breakfast, we received our ticket to visit Bai Di Cheng.
and the bus ticket.
the view from the cruise
the buses to take us to bai di cheng.
our journey towards Bai Di Cheng.
The view as we climbed up to Bai Di Cheng.
one form to transport up to Bai Di Cheng by manpower - two men carrying a person who is sitting in the chair all the way to the destination.
This is like one way of earning money for the locals there by using the one talent they have, which is pure strength. It is such a pity seeing them work so hard and scared they will injure themselves. Hence, all of us do not want to be carried by them in this form of transport though we may be adding to their rice bowl.
more views on the way up
the stairs we got to climb to reach our destination
Bai Di Cheng
the crane & dragon - two favourite symbols used by the Chinese
and these are the steps down back to where we came from
back to this bridge and then to the bus to bring us back to our ship "Golden Sun"
on the way back, I noticed this father carrying his baby. A different way from parents usually carrying their kid in Singapore.
me and one of my newly made friend Jun Ru from Multidisciplinary Engineering (MDE).
At the deck of the ship, the people were playing mahjong. Having the presence of nice breeze and nice surroundings, these do add atmosphere and feel to playing of mahjong, making it more relaxing.
Mr Joseph Loh - the lecturer who represent MDE (:
the scenery seen from the deck
the picture on the 10 yuan is identical to the one in the background of this picture.
our lovely lunch in the same common room
more views of the surroundings from the ship
the air is cold and cool, hence luckily we brought our windbreakers to protect us from the cool wind and from falling sick if we stay too long in such weather.
Being away from home alone, though with trip mates, we have to take great care of ourselves so that we would not fall ill that easily and continue to be physically and mentally strong.
Next day we went to Shen Nong Xi
our cruise "Golden Sun"
similar "HDB flats" seen here where we were
welcoming us to Shen Nong Xi
To get there, we had to get to a small ship/boat from our cruise. This boat brought us to the inner of shen nong xi and then changed into a smaller boat (seen in the picture below), which is powered by 4 to 5 men, aged from 35 to 60 plus years old. However there are youngsters whom are joining in such career as this is their bread and butter for such group of people, who are known as the Tu Jia ren.
We were equipped with our safety vests, which had a smell to it. I guess they were not washed after each use, but this did not put us off from wanting to know where we were going and what would happen next.
She is our lovely tour guide in the smaller boat with us, who is also Tu Jia ren. Letting us hear her group's song too.
Can you see the 'steam'? It signifies the interaction between the cool water and the warm air. If you went to touch the water which I did try, the water is cold to your touch. Plus, it was said that in winter, the weather is much colder, the men who roll the boats, they will drink their wine to keep them warm from the weather so they would not be affected by the cold.
The rope in her hand is used by the men to pull the boat with all of us by their body strength. (which is shown in the picture below)
I truely admired the strength they have and the courage they have to carry on this career to earn money. This may not be the best job, but I guess they just have to earn money to be able to survive in this world. Their strength, which can be said their only talent, besides knowing their place very well, is what they have to keep them going. Plus, hearing them sing their song really touched me. It is like they are singing to encourage each other to move forward, to pull the boat to the destination they want every time. Additionally, it is like it signifies the strong bond they have for each other as a group, as Tu Jia people.
The boat which brought us along Shen Long Xi
Some hidden cove? I guess we would not know since we did not go exploring there. I believe there are more of this kind of coves, more other mysteries of the places and surroundings in such area that people may not find out yet. Nature are always changing so what is meant to be found will be found.
Dinner was served. After that, around late night, most of us went up to the deck to see the cruise enter the dam and how it went from one section to another. When it went to one section, the cruise would sink lower and lower as the water in the dam would start to flow out to the previous section and this continues as the night past.
When morning arrived, we were at the port to get ready to alight the cruise to board our bus back to Wuhan University of Science and Technology Zhongnan Branch. Again, another 5 hours ride and this time during a rainy weather, seen in the photo taken below.
Reflections for day 18 to 20:
Though the three gorges dam is just a dam, it helps to generate electricity, which can be used by the country. Plus, it brings in profits and money to be earned by the locals since it became a tourist spot for sight-seeing. To be able to see the dam up close and how it is operated, plus feeling the operation too as the cruise went past each sections of the dam, this experience is amazing and never before had I went through. Hence, this added into my list of "first times" during this study trip. The moments being in the dam were quite unbelievable and extraordinary. It is amazing that this dam can even be built, must have sacrificed many people's time and effort to make this dam so happening.
It is good to hav expectations so that we are able to challenge ourselves further to reach the target. However sometimes it is best not to have too high of an expectations, especially since in China. The cruise is definitely not what most of us expected and is definitely not matchable to our home country's standards of cruise, which has proper toilet facilities, is air-conditioned, nice walkway, no pests and so on. Hence, being through just two nights and a day in such a cruise, I had learnt to appreciate more of what I already have and what I can afford to enjoy. It is like we can adapt and overcome any obstacles that put in our way without much struggle as we went through the worse side compared to Singapore being a better environment to live in.
Being in Shen Nong Xi really open my eyes to see and get to know things I did not know before. Seeing those men rowing the boats of alot of us in them or other people in them and also pulling us at the area where the water is very shallow, i felt sympathy and empathy for them. This kind of work is their career, is their livelihood. Unlike us being the lucky ones living in a more developed country with our parents raising us up in good environment where things are more up to date and with advanced technology. So lets all appreciate what we have. (: And i guess one very good thing that the men received in return of this livelihood is that they are fit and able to endure any hardship that they may come across, especially they are bonded and seems to be encouraging to one another.
Furthermore, with many areas and places in such a BIG china compared to Singapore, there are bound to be mysteries and many things yet to be found. Plus, different tourist attractions can be created to attract visitors to come visiting and raise the reputation of the country and its places. However, being in a big country, there is one disadvantage, which is the time taken to travel from place to place. In China, for my case, to go to Three Gorges from Wuhan University already took us 5 hours. This really test our patience and i guess when we are back in Singapore, when we need to travel from place to place in our country, we would not complain or say much even if it is an hour journey as we been through much longer hours of journey already.
JEHANNE :))
eating ice cream in a cold weather is a wonderful cool feeling. I would not get to do it as often because Singapore has such a hot weather and there is not a change of weather due to season change.scenery on the way to three gorges this is the restaurant where we ate our lunch at our lunch; the very first time which I felt I can actually eat everything finish as the dishes suit our taste. They are more qing dan (simple) than the other dishes we ever ate before. this is my tour guide, Xiao Zhao.the bridge as the background the warnings/ notices to tell visitors what not to do or have the ticket to visit the three gorges one of the tour guides for the tour around the three gorges the model of the yangtze three gorgeswhich we will be going through and see for ourselves in reality when we take the cruise
some photos taken as we went around the places:
what english translation is this?! this is the postcard I sent to my family (: hopefully they will receive it soon. this is the dam, which we will be going through. It is such a big project done. Riding across the bridge in a bus to another place in three gorges. A "house" for rubbish; different design of rubbish bin from what we usually see.Though dinner is not as nice as lunch, it still acceptable. The rice is in a small bucket is like refering to chinese words 饭桶. and this is roll of tissue papers, somewhat like roll of toilet paper though not as rough and thick.This is where we all waited to board the cruise. When it was time, we went through this building and long flight of stairs in sight. Down we went and through other cruises, we arrived at our own. It was more like a ship and you cannot compare to singapore's cruise as singapore's is too high of a standard. my room number in the ship; roommate is millison. (: our room. luckily for us, there wasnt any mice or cockroaches around, hence no need for pest control. me and wenliang went to explore.Soon, we all slept and woke up at 6am. Breakfast to be eaten at the common room at 6.30am.
The noodle was the first time I came across and the taste was nice. The breakfast was filling too as the food suit my taste.After a full breakfast, we received our ticket to visit Bai Di Cheng.
and the bus ticket. the view from the cruise the buses to take us to bai di cheng.our journey towards Bai Di Cheng. The view as we climbed up to Bai Di Cheng. one form to transport up to Bai Di Cheng by manpower - two men carrying a person who is sitting in the chair all the way to the destination.This is like one way of earning money for the locals there by using the one talent they have, which is pure strength. It is such a pity seeing them work so hard and scared they will injure themselves. Hence, all of us do not want to be carried by them in this form of transport though we may be adding to their rice bowl.
more views on the way up the stairs we got to climb to reach our destination Bai Di Cheng the crane & dragon - two favourite symbols used by the Chinese and these are the steps down back to where we came from back to this bridge and then to the bus to bring us back to our ship "Golden Sun" on the way back, I noticed this father carrying his baby. A different way from parents usually carrying their kid in Singapore. me and one of my newly made friend Jun Ru from Multidisciplinary Engineering (MDE). At the deck of the ship, the people were playing mahjong. Having the presence of nice breeze and nice surroundings, these do add atmosphere and feel to playing of mahjong, making it more relaxing.Mr Joseph Loh - the lecturer who represent MDE (: the scenery seen from the deck the picture on the 10 yuan is identical to the one in the background of this picture. our lovely lunch in the same common room more views of the surroundings from the ship the air is cold and cool, hence luckily we brought our windbreakers to protect us from the cool wind and from falling sick if we stay too long in such weather.Being away from home alone, though with trip mates, we have to take great care of ourselves so that we would not fall ill that easily and continue to be physically and mentally strong.
Next day we went to Shen Nong Xi
our cruise "Golden Sun" similar "HDB flats" seen here where we were welcoming us to Shen Nong Xi To get there, we had to get to a small ship/boat from our cruise. This boat brought us to the inner of shen nong xi and then changed into a smaller boat (seen in the picture below), which is powered by 4 to 5 men, aged from 35 to 60 plus years old. However there are youngsters whom are joining in such career as this is their bread and butter for such group of people, who are known as the Tu Jia ren. We were equipped with our safety vests, which had a smell to it. I guess they were not washed after each use, but this did not put us off from wanting to know where we were going and what would happen next. She is our lovely tour guide in the smaller boat with us, who is also Tu Jia ren. Letting us hear her group's song too. Can you see the 'steam'? It signifies the interaction between the cool water and the warm air. If you went to touch the water which I did try, the water is cold to your touch. Plus, it was said that in winter, the weather is much colder, the men who roll the boats, they will drink their wine to keep them warm from the weather so they would not be affected by the cold. The rope in her hand is used by the men to pull the boat with all of us by their body strength. (which is shown in the picture below) I truely admired the strength they have and the courage they have to carry on this career to earn money. This may not be the best job, but I guess they just have to earn money to be able to survive in this world. Their strength, which can be said their only talent, besides knowing their place very well, is what they have to keep them going. Plus, hearing them sing their song really touched me. It is like they are singing to encourage each other to move forward, to pull the boat to the destination they want every time. Additionally, it is like it signifies the strong bond they have for each other as a group, as Tu Jia people. The boat which brought us along Shen Long Xi Some hidden cove? I guess we would not know since we did not go exploring there. I believe there are more of this kind of coves, more other mysteries of the places and surroundings in such area that people may not find out yet. Nature are always changing so what is meant to be found will be found.
Dinner was served. After that, around late night, most of us went up to the deck to see the cruise enter the dam and how it went from one section to another. When it went to one section, the cruise would sink lower and lower as the water in the dam would start to flow out to the previous section and this continues as the night past.When morning arrived, we were at the port to get ready to alight the cruise to board our bus back to Wuhan University of Science and Technology Zhongnan Branch. Again, another 5 hours ride and this time during a rainy weather, seen in the photo taken below.
Reflections for day 18 to 20:Though the three gorges dam is just a dam, it helps to generate electricity, which can be used by the country. Plus, it brings in profits and money to be earned by the locals since it became a tourist spot for sight-seeing. To be able to see the dam up close and how it is operated, plus feeling the operation too as the cruise went past each sections of the dam, this experience is amazing and never before had I went through. Hence, this added into my list of "first times" during this study trip. The moments being in the dam were quite unbelievable and extraordinary. It is amazing that this dam can even be built, must have sacrificed many people's time and effort to make this dam so happening.
It is good to hav expectations so that we are able to challenge ourselves further to reach the target. However sometimes it is best not to have too high of an expectations, especially since in China. The cruise is definitely not what most of us expected and is definitely not matchable to our home country's standards of cruise, which has proper toilet facilities, is air-conditioned, nice walkway, no pests and so on. Hence, being through just two nights and a day in such a cruise, I had learnt to appreciate more of what I already have and what I can afford to enjoy. It is like we can adapt and overcome any obstacles that put in our way without much struggle as we went through the worse side compared to Singapore being a better environment to live in.
Being in Shen Nong Xi really open my eyes to see and get to know things I did not know before. Seeing those men rowing the boats of alot of us in them or other people in them and also pulling us at the area where the water is very shallow, i felt sympathy and empathy for them. This kind of work is their career, is their livelihood. Unlike us being the lucky ones living in a more developed country with our parents raising us up in good environment where things are more up to date and with advanced technology. So lets all appreciate what we have. (: And i guess one very good thing that the men received in return of this livelihood is that they are fit and able to endure any hardship that they may come across, especially they are bonded and seems to be encouraging to one another.
Furthermore, with many areas and places in such a BIG china compared to Singapore, there are bound to be mysteries and many things yet to be found. Plus, different tourist attractions can be created to attract visitors to come visiting and raise the reputation of the country and its places. However, being in a big country, there is one disadvantage, which is the time taken to travel from place to place. In China, for my case, to go to Three Gorges from Wuhan University already took us 5 hours. This really test our patience and i guess when we are back in Singapore, when we need to travel from place to place in our country, we would not complain or say much even if it is an hour journey as we been through much longer hours of journey already.
JEHANNE :))
forever cherished at 6:51 PM.
