Reflection

After reviewing through the 9 days in Tianjin and Beijing, I am proud to say that I have learned a lot from the trip, not just studies but also morals of life.

Before I went to China, I had heard many rumors about China, about the food, the restrooms, the people there, mostly bad.
The food. Even though it may not be suited to everyone's liking, it was still edible. Many were complaining about the food, how terrible it was. For me, because I grew up in an environment that fed me with plain dishes, the food in China was more distinguished. Most were salty, which I did not really touched, but I never did complain. The chefs who prepared the food were so used to the locals preferences so I personally felt that it was rather harsh to criticize their cooking. And it was very nice of our tour guide to inform the chefs to reduce the salt contents for all our remaining days in China. Once again, I would like to thank her for making us feel welcome in her country.
The restrooms. Well, it may be true that the quality of restrooms were not like our houses, no grade A standard. Maybe because I had visited the restrooms in Tibet, I rather much preferred the restroom in Tianjin and Beijing. These 2 places were considered more developed already. The restrooms might not be clean, but it was the same as the restrooms at the coffee shops in Singapore. In Singapore, if the restrooms did not come with a price for using it, the quality would pretty much be comparable.
The people. China is a big country with a large population. I am not surprised to see the people pushing their way around, or talking at a louder volume. To me, it was all part of being in a big country. If I were in their shoes, I might have done the same. As a citizen, simple things like waiting for the restrooms were already a competition to them. To them, they really had to compete to survive. The population in Singapore is peanut-sized compared to them, yet in Singapore, we are already competing for better education, better jobs, better quality of life. What about them?

The company visits were all very interesting in their own styles. Even though certain companies were slightly drier, probably due to the nature of business, it was overall still a very good learning experiences. Some companies were not of our interest, but I could tell they were all doing their best to make their presentations more understandable for us. Companies like PwC and Tianjin Port Holdings Pte Ltd had done a fantastic job welcoming us. In the case of PwC, even though it was a presentation, their style of presentations were slightly different. In most companies, we were simply treated as students. But the speakers of PwC talked to us like we were future employees of PwC, they shared with us their experiences, the fun times and we could see their passion for PwC. And through it all, they never failed to empower us with knowledge of their company and their country. Tianjin Port Holding Pte Ltd had also made an effort to entertain us even though they were very busy with their work. They even arranged to bring us to the Tianjin Port to have a better understanding of a port. The speaker of Tianjin Port treated us like we were partners of the company, and was doing his best to pass on as much knowledge to us as possible. These 2 companies had really done an exemplary job equipping us with the relevant knowledge.
When we first knew that companies like Coca Cola, or the banks did not fulfill their 'promises', there was a commotion going on in the bus. Many were enraged at the companies, especially the groups that had to prepare for the respective companies. I do not blame them, since they would have to redo their projects, but I thought maybe we all could have been a little more understanding. I was talking to Ms Karen one night as to why there were lesser riot reports as compared to Thailand. China is an autocratic country, but the citizens do not seem to rebel. Social medias like Facebook were banned but I have never seem teenagers going on strike. In the case of Singapore, I believe there would be a major riot should the government decide to ban Facebook.  Ms Karen replied saying that the citizens knew that they were being "controlled" but it was all due to the size of the country. It is not easy to manage a country that is as big, so the people would have to adhere to the rules and laws of the country. To me, it made sense. To watch over my 2 siblings were already a very tough task, what more a country. After all, in life, we can never please everyone, so we should just stick with an action that would be the best for the majority.

All in all, this 9 days have thought me valuable lessons, about China, about Singapore, and about myself. I believe many have brought back something with them which would shape them to be a better person.

Day 8 - Leaving China

This marked the last day of our trip in Beijing, which sad to say, I fell asleep on the bus and did not manage to tour the cultural site, the Forbidden City. But nevertheless, I was glad that I had been to these places before so I did not miss out much. Still, it was a very embarrassing moment when I realized that I fell asleep during the time when everyone was touring the site.

A little background of the Forbidden City:
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it serves as the home of the emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

It was built in 1406 to 1420, consisting of 980 buildings. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

 

  

When we reached the airport and only after we alighted the bus did I realize that I left my phone on the bus. For me, it was a very common thing since I kept losing my things. Actually, the moment I realized I left it on the bus, I already gave up hope of retrieving it. After all, we were reminded again and again to check our belongings before we left the bus, so it was my fault for leaving it behind. But, both the tour guide and the bus driver were very nice and the bus driver even made the effort to turn back to return the phone. I was really really really very thankful for their kind gestures.

And when we touched down in Singapore, I dropped my passport. I was very thankful to Ms Karen Quah for informing me that they found my passport so that I could get it back the next day. So for the entire trip, I only misplaced my itouch and landyard which was considerably a major improvement as compared to what I would usually lose. 

Day 7 - Ping An Investment

Following that, we had a conference talk with Ping An Investment Firm in a hotel hall. The representative turned up late due to a jam and he kept apologizing for being late. Frankly speaking, I think we were all rather thankful that he turned up late since it meant that we could have a few more minutes of rest since conquering the Great Wall.

From the speaker, we learned that Ping An Investment firm was a well-known investment firm in China which provided a wide variety of financial services. He even provided us with his email so that we could contact him should we have an queries regarding any of the financial services or products they provided.

 

The presentation lasted for an hour. This was another of the last minute arrangement since the previous company gave us a last min rejection. But I think the presentation was rather well prepared and the speaker seemed to be a rather experienced speaker. He was quite engaging which helped us to understand finance better since we did not major in finance.

Day 7 - Great Wall of China

We scaled the Great Wall on the second last day. It was a test of perseverance to reach the top. We chose to ascend the steeper steps and manage to make it to the half point mark. Even though we did not manage to reach the top, I was glad that everyone was very encouraging during the climb. It made us feel like a team. I could tell that all of us pushed ourselves to our limit, and was relieved that everyone was mindful of their own medical condition and did not overdo things.

From the top looking down

For most, standing on the Great Wall would be a challenge on its own. Looking down, the height difference would probably scare most people, especially those who were afraid of heights. For me, the height difference made me feel like I was flying. Standing amiss the towers and bricks, it made my problems seem so small compared to the never-ending steps. I always thought that people were exaggerating when they used phrases like that but now, I could finally experience it. The vast blue sky, never-ending stretch of steps, tall towers made me feel so small, so insignificant in the background. My spirits lifted after climbing the Great Wall. Unsure if it was finally understanding the phrase or the rush of adrenaline, but I felt much better than I had for the past few days.