Hotel reviews

Hotel in Shanghai: ***

 

The hotel is generally well furnished with everything one would need for a short stay in the bustling state of shanghai. However, any trip that lasts more than 1 night, I would suggest moving. Though they provide basic necessities (which is good), the pillow provided are paper thin, coupled with a bed that one could even feel the spring. If you are one of those that cannot stand a bed like this or require a comfy beauty sleep through the night, this is not your pick. However I believe that this would be a cheap plan B if you are left hapless.

 

Hotel in Hefei: *****

 

This hotel is marvelous. It may seemed biased considering the ranking of the hotels, however, there are various reasons for my stand. The entire room gives you a modern contemporary feel yet with a tinge of nostalgic aftertaste. In short, the entire room exemplifies perfection. The flooring is not only made of carpeted tiles but also with black cracked tiles. Not only is it good, but there are restaurants, convenience stores in 5min ++ walking distance. This is definitely a must go hotel.

 

Hotel in huangshan: **

 

Not to put down this hotel as I understand that it is hard to maintain up here in the mountain region, however, what I experienced is downright unacceptable no matter how tough it is. The service here is terrible. According to one of my classmates, the staff simply threw the trash onto the other bed and walked off. This is certainly wrong as the staff should never do things so sloppily. Furthermore, when I first reached the level where my room was, I was reeked with the strong stench of the cigarette. In the rooms nearby, there were loud conversations and the sound of intense gambling. This is so unsafe. They did not even have a basic sewage system. The toilets were clogged very badly and it literally took 2-3mins for water to go down the drain (at first the whole toilet was flooded due to showering). I really do not recommend this hotel, though yet again I would make for a cheap second plan.

 

Hotel in Tunxi/Huizhou: ****

 

This hotel is relatively good. The entire build up does not seem so but the interior has some quality. I think this would be a rather good choice for your trip in china.

Restaurant Reviews

Restaurants in Hefei and Huangshan.

 

During this week-long trip to the two suburb like provinces of China (hefei and huangshan), I had gone to much restaurants and had tasted dishes that were not of my liking. However, this does not put of the strong distinct flavours that can be found in the dishes. Anhui cuisine is known for its use of wild herbs, from both the land and sea, and simple methods of preparation. The people there are more versed at cooking methods involving braising and stewing. Living in an urbanized location now, with many complex-ly prepared food, I have come to appreciate what simple cooking can bring. Though I do not really like the food, I cannot deny the presense of brilliant techniques in trying to incorporate different flavours. This is certainly a type of cuisine for those of strong taste, not really for the faint-hearted.

 

The general upkeep of the restaurants are rather pleasant with nice atmosphere and great lightings. However, when it comes to restaurants at the ancient villages around china be prepared to face not very clean restaurant as a hold.

 

包公祠 - 4 stars

包公祠 is a place that display Bao Gong life stories, his achievements, his beliefs and how he helped china. In Bao Gong Ci there is a place with waxes figuring showing the three famous scenes of Bao Gong in court. The wax figure stories showed how upright Bao Gong was. He did not care if that person was a prince or a normal villager. If that person committed a crime, he must be punished. Bao Gong Ci also reveled the secret of why Bao Gong was portrayed as a person   

IT SHOULD BE CONTINUED:)

The trip to baogongci is also a must see attraction. Baogongci is very big, and the fact that it has a tomb in the attraction proves to be more interesting than the rest. Furthermore, there is also a wax museum/life size model of important segments of baogong's life. We feel that this is a much better way to learn the dull history and culture as a place as all this stimulates our sense and make us have a much longer lasting impression of that event/place. 

李鸿章故居

李鸿章故居- 4 stars

李鸿章故居 is an interesting place. The displays inside the house showed the life of Li HongZhang, his achievement, his beliefs, and what he did to help China. The structure of the house showed the culture and history of the china. For example, the structure of the roof to let the rain water fall into the house shows the belief the 

people had at that time.

IT SHOULD CONTINUE:)
李鸿章故居 shows us cultures that the people then hold on to. Furthermore, it gave more than sufficient information about the owner of the house. From this trip, not only do we learn culture and re-emphasise our learning, we also realise that China takes a strong view on how they treat their heroes. We learnt that the Chinese really appreciated what the previous generation did for them and wishes the current and future generations will follow suit. Thus, this is a must see as it is insightful. 

屯溪老街

屯溪老街 - 4 stars

This was one of the few chances that we actually got to go shopping in China. Although we were only given around 1+ hour, which was not enough to fully explore the street, we had fun walking from shop to shop and buying souvenirs or other things, such as keychains and hats. There was a famous shop that sold 传统糕点, which we bought from. The 糕点 there was delicious. There was also a famous shop that sold 毛笔 and 砚, which I did not get to visit due to lack of time. I really enjoyed myself at this place, but I feel that we weren't given enough time here. If we were given more time here, I definitely would have given this place a higher rating. 

徽州古城

徽商大宅院, 棠樾牌坊群 & 徽州古城 - 3.5 stars

I got to experience the heritage of China through these cultural sites. The places were all well-preserved, and showed the culture of China. We enjoyed ourselves walking around the places and taking pictures of the interior of the houses or the scenery. However, I did not like the area tour guide of these places as she spoke way too fast and moved too fast. For example, before some of us reached a certain place, she would be done talking and would move on to the next place. Like this, we would not be able to fully learn from these sites. However, I felt that these places were very well preserved and we can learn a lot from them. 

Xidi and Hongcun

溪递and 宏村 Villages (4.5 stars)    

Xidi and Hongcun were the ancient villages we went to. Xidi and Hongcun were scenic, peaceful and quiet. Xidi had a large lake with hills behind in the background. There were ducks swimming around. The villagers were selling their hand made products and led a simple life. There was also a market selling the locals handmade products and I also bought some embroidery. We also went to a well preserved shop and we realised it sold a wide variety or items ranging from jewelry to rice

Meiling and iFlytek

Meiling and iFlytek 4 stars

After visiting Meiling and iFlytek, I realized how advanced China's technology was. iFlyTek developed a voice recognition technology. After we tested it out, it was highly accurate mad was able to translate the words we wanted it to. This makes life convenient for people. This technology also entered the vehicle market and cars including BMW also made use of this technology in their high end cars. For example, we tested out how the GPS taught us how to drive to Huangshan from the location we were in.  In my opinion, this shows China's ambition to be one the leading countries in this market. As for Meiling, after visiting the factory and it's gallery, we found out that Meiling fridges not only cater to Chinese but also overseas. Meiling factory was a large scaled production and This shows shows the significance of local companies to not only China's economy but also other countries' in my opinion, this was a very enriching experience 

Sanhe Guzhen

三河古镇 - 4 stars

I truly experienced the rich culture and heritage of China through the beautiful and well-preserved scenery as well as the exhibitions in the area. As I walked through the streets, I saw rows of shophouses selling all sorts of souvenirs, including fans, 九连环, hats, etc. The exhibits were really interesting and informative, and I learnt a lot from them. I experienced how the wealthier Chinese lived in the past, and I really enjoyed this place. However, it could've been better if we could enter the pagoda located there, as the view of the area would've been superb from the top. 

School immersion

School Immersion- 4.5 stars

The technologies used in the classroom are advanced. Smart board, teacher's desk with computer and air conditional are available in the classroom. However the classroom is a little overcrowded. 60 over students need to squeeze in one classroom. The lessons are interesting and there is a 10min break time after every 40min of lesson. The break allows my brain to rest after the lesson so that I can absorb more information in the next lesson. With the break, the lesson time also seems shorter and I would not be restless during the lessons.

High speed rail trip advisor

High Speed Rail (4 stars) 

We took the High Speed from Shanghai to Anhui and the duration was about 3 hours. The train had 7 cabins and the maximum speed of the rail was around 240 km/h. The service was good and there were a few stewardess pushing carts, selling some consumables to us. We passed many rice fields, lakes and houses. This represents the rapid development of China and the High Speed Rail improved the lives of people tremendously. It not only makes everything convenient for the, but also improves the Economy