42 days in China..42 days of learning journey: DAY ONE! 4th March

Woke up at 4a.m in the morning to do some last minute packing and make the final checks that everything that I need are in my luggage. Set off to Changi Airport at 5a.m. Reached the airport at around 5.25 a.m. Today was the first time I will be taking an airline that will be doing transit. Our first plane will fly to Guangzhou first, then we will board a second plane en route to Wuhan. I learnt something new today. That is, if you are taking a transit plane, you are supposed to write your 2nd flight number and tag it onto your check-in luggage so that the airport crew will transfer your luggage to the second plane. If the tag is not on your luggage, it will not be transferred to the 2nd plane and your luggage will be flown to Shenyang.

After a short briefing by the lecturers, we checked in and I was quite worried that my luggage will be overweight. Luckily, it’s not. Proceeded to gate C26 to board the China Southern Airlines Plane Flight CZ352. After settling down for about 15 minutes, the plane started to taxi to the runway at 8:00a.m and soon, we were on our way to Guangzhou, China.
During the flight, I was actually quite bored. Comparisons between this airline and our own SIA soon appeared in my mind. China Southern Airlines is a good airline but in my opinion, SIA is better overall as their on-board facilities are better. However, our flight was not considered a really long flight and we landed at Guangzhou just barely 4hours after( 11.50P.M) our takeoff. Went to the macdonalds at the Guangzhou airport. In my opinion, the food prices in China is actually about the same price compared to Singapore. Also, I still prefer the Macdonalds in Singapore as I felt that the food just simply taste much better in Singapore. BUT, perhaps I ‘m just too used to being in Singapore and cannot instantly adapt to the different conditions in China.

At the airport at Guangzhou, we waited for around 2 hours till 3pm before boarding our second plane. This however, would be a shorter flight as the flight path was only from Guangzhou to Wuhan. The whole flight took only about one to one and a half hour. Actually before I set off for this OIP trip, relatives and family members had been telling me that before landing in Wuhan, I would have to be ready for the cold temperature. But I did not heed their advice as I thought that I can handle the cold weather. However, I was proved wrong when we landed at Wuhan. As soon as we walked out of the airport, the cold weather made everyone put on their thick jackets and thermal wear. I soon came to realize that that was the coldest moment I ever felt and I too realized how ill-prepared I was for the cold weather of Wuhan ( 6deg Celsius). I did not heed my mother’s advice and did not pack in the appropriate winter wear, gloves and scarves. All I brought along were simple jackets and long pants, and despite wearing two jackets and one thick cotton shirt, I still cannot handle the cold and shivered madly.

WUST lecturers met us at the Wuhan airport and sent us to WUST. The whole journey was very long and took ab out two hours. Along the way to WUST, I noticed that quite a number of simple houses were built beside the road and there were actually not much scenery to admire as the environemt beside the road was quite the same. Just some simple houses, condominiums were common as well. And I was actually bewildered as there were not much people staying in these accommodations. It then dawned on me that land is actually abundant in China and that may perhaps explain the sparse population density. Actually it was quite creepy to look at those empty houses. The journey was boring, only houses and factories laid along the way. One thing that I found interesting is that the traffic in China Wuhan, is actually not so heavy as compared to Singapore. We were sitting in a bus and it just kept speeding along the road. I also found it interesting that Chinese drivers honked at each other as they drove past each other even thought they were driving along two different lanes. I guess that that is their culture, to honk at each other to warn the other party that he is in close proximity and he got to be cautious. I also realized that most vehicles I spotted along the way had NO signal lights, so our bus driver will honk at the vehicle in front or behind of him before switching lanes. This is quite interesting as it is quite different in Singapore. Singaporean drivers will almost always use signal lights. Too law abiding?

We reached WUST at around 7:20PM. We unloaded all the luggage and were told to look for our own rooms at the hostel. Was quite lucky as my dorm and room is on the first level, no need to climb the stairs all the way up. In addition, the dorm was quite clean and the toilets looked hygienic. Was quite worried about leaving my stuffs behind when we went for dinner as people might steal them. What’s more is that my laptop is in my luggage. Weather was really cold as night approached. At around 8:00PM, we went to the school canteen to have our dinner. On the way there, was shivering all the way, teeth were chattering. After what seemed to be an eternity, we reached the canteen. Was quite stunned as the canteen food is very very cheap, compared to Singapore’s. a claypot rice at the canteen can cost only about 5 RMB, only a bit over SGD 1 dollar. The hawkers there were actually quite sociable as we chatted a bit regarding our purpose of trip and our own country’s culture. However, the eating experience was not quite pleasant for me as there were too many fish bones in my dish. Something which I never encountered when in SG.

After dinner, was quite anxious to get back to hostel to use internet. Reached the hostel and hopes were dashed. Was quite frustrated as no matter how hard we tried, we all cannot access the internet. Intended to use the internet to keep in contact with my friends and family members in SG. BUT for now, it seemed too impossible. Made a phone call back to SG instead, told my parents about the living conditions and tried to assure them that everything was fine. After that, did some packing and did some gaming as well. Was quite tired by now already as almost the whole day was spent on travelling and flight transit.

First day experience was not too bad after all. 41 days left for me to explore and discover China’s culture and heritage. Despite the unpleasant things that happened during day one, overall, the experience was quite good and I was quite confident that the remaining 41 days will be better. I hope.