After a relatively short trip on the bus to our destination, we gathered around the streets while waiting for nour guides for this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime tour. And just as much as we looked forward to this trip, our tour guides were even more excited to see us, with the mere sight of us sending them into states of nostalgia, for these tour guides are no one else but our ex-Hwa Chong seniors. After a brief self-introduction, we adjourned towards our first stop, Beijing Qing Hua Da Xue (QingHua university)
Qing Hua university was in short, a revelation. Hwa Chong students were absolutely stunned for words while being in awe of the sheer hugeness of the school compound, which according to our dear senior, was “10 times larger than Hwa Chong”, with a puff of his chest. This simple gesture just goes to show us how loyal to the Qing Hua our seniors were, just as how we are towards ours.
After a short briefing, we continued on the path to the rest of our journey in Qing Hua. Throughout our journey, we learnt that the compound of Qing Hua university is practically a mini-neighbourhood in its own, with apartments, convenience stores, banks and even a hospital. This is truly a reflection of the independence of the students in Qing Hua and it is definitely a quality of theirs that we can enrich ourselves with. The campus of Qing Hua and the campus of Hwa Chong were worlds apart, and hopefully one day our school will be able to implement such facilities in our campus. The classrooms of Qing Hua were rather simple, but what really impressed us was the fact that students were independently studying on their own in their classes, paying little attention to their surroundings even as we peered into their classrooms through their door windows. This is definitely another quality of theirs that we can learn from.
We soon headed to Beijing University, another top university of China just a stone’s throw away from Qing Hua University. Both of these universities are the cream of the crop of universities in China, and like Qing Hua, seniors previously from our school also volunteered to bring us around. To our surprise, Beijing University has a Singapore Student’s Association which is basically a gathering of Singaporean students studying in Beijing University.
We split into three groups and visited the various landmarks of Beijing University, aptly and amiably nicknamed “Yi Ta Hu Tu” with “Ta” being the tower, “Hu” being the lake and “Tu” being the library. “Yi Ta Hu Tu” is also a pun of a famous Chinese phrase meaning messy, but these landmarks were definitely not messy in nature! Beijing University also boasts off a plethora of nature and old buildings juxtaposed against new ones that exudes an aura of both sophistication and class and vintage glamour. Furthermore, located just near the Beijing University is THE Beijing Table Tennis Stadium, where our female table-tennis players have done our country proud by winning a silver medal.
Both universities have also a wide diversity of plants which serves as a perfect photo shooting location with their leaves falling to the ground in time to the metronome ticks of gravity. These scenes of nature only serves to further highlight how these universities put emphasis on a safe and soothing environment for the students to study in and to call this place their home. The universities have shown us in many ways, how our education system and environment the student are put in has reaped different kinds of positive results. By extracting the essence from this journey, we can add this ingredient to our already big pot of goodness and furthermore enrich our learning experience in Hwa Chong by so many more and exciting new manners.
A picture of the scenic view in Qinghua
The Gate leading to QingHua
In short, the trip to the universities have definitely opened our eyes and widened our perspectives. And we will never forget the tender breeze caressing our cheeks, the leaves swaying in time to the direction of the wind or the soothing environment that we have been so honoured to be invited to be a part of. I personally have realized that even though this trip did not consist of us sitting down in lectures and listening in classes, we have, through our own outdoor experiences, interpreted our surroundings and have in turn, learnt so very much from this unforgettable once in a lifetime experience.
Signing off,
Tay Zheng Yu
High Flyers BSC December 2008
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