Day 24- 27th March (Wu Dang Mountain)
When I told my mum that I was going to Wu Dang Mountain (武当山) today, she asked If I was going to Emei Mountain (峨嵋山) as well. Because she said 峨嵋 is 武当’s sister! Hahaha she watched too many shows already. I don’t know if it is true, but I couldn’t stop laughing after that :D The Wu Dang Mountain is situated in the northwestern part of Hubei, it is far from WUST, and hence we have to wake up early at 0530. The bus journey was 5 hours long! We left WUST at 7, and we reached the foot of the mountain for lunch only at 1230 D: Even if I travel from Joo Koon to Pasir Ris by SBS, which is one end of Singapore to another, I won’t even need 3 hours D: Well that confirms the area of our little red dot ;)
One of the dish was Donkey Meat! I don't know what was i thinking at that point of time, but i tried it! ;o Not bad :}
After lunch, we proceeded to the ticket office and that’s when we officially entered Wu Dang Mountain. We had to carry all our belongings with us as our own hired coach cannot enter the vicinity. The only vehicles we saw were private buses of 武当山, which will ferry tourists around the mountain. Well I think it is to limit the number of vehicles present in protected environment, as noise and air pollution will be reduced, which will enhance the attractiveness of such a scenic spot :0


The first place of attraction is 太子坡. We had to climb several long flights of stairs before we could reach the temple, which is high above the slope. There are many different types of God in different types of Hall for the purpose of worshiping. Look at all these ribbons on the tree. People buy them and throw it up the tree, which helps to pray for health, studies, family and stuff like that.

Something weird i find about all these hall is the temperature inside the halls. Outside is so warm, but once you step in the temperature feels like an air conditioned is on. But there was no air-con to be found D: Anyway some said that this is for the preservation of the statues as low temperature can help to maintain the sculptures better. True? ;o

We were served free tea at the Tea House! :)


Next, we went to 紫霄福池, which also is a place of respect to the God and Deity. 紫霄宫, also known as the Purple Cloud Temple. There are altogether 29 buildings consisting of the Dragon and Tiger hall, the Purple Sky Hall, he East Hall, the West Hall, and the Parent Hall.
The Purple Sky Hall is enshrined with statues of Zhen Wu at different stages of his life Statues of Zhen Wu's parents rest in the Parents Hall. It is said that the Taoist spirit attains the virtues of loyalty to the nation and filial piety to the parents.

Before we were brought to the last spot of the day, we checked in to the hotel first. We heard that we’re given a 3 star hotel, but it may be the standard of just a motel in Singapore D: I kinda freaked out upon hearing that. Because we were told to travel light but if it is of low standard, I’d then have to prepare many things. Furthermore, I have a gigantic camera which I have to bring along wherever I go! :/ So I was in a dilemma when packing my bag. However, I was shocked by the architecture of the building, the size of the room, the size of the toilet, the fluffiness of the pillow and lastly the television! Everything was better than I expected. Though it is only a 3 star hotel, but it was long since I last saw such a “grand” room. It is considered luxurious as compared to our hostel and the rooms in the cruise >.< The spelling for CITIZEN'S :\


So after taking a 5 minutes rest in the room, we gathered again at the hotel lobby to set off for our last attraction! We were supposed to climb up and down stairs to reach another temple. However we stopped halfway through and strolled back because we know we won’t be able to make it back to the restaurant by 1830 D: But still, i managed to have a fine sight of the scenery.
EH? :\

Everyone reached the restaurant and we had our dinner.
Our dinner! Not appetizing right :(
We were free for the night after dinner onwards. As the dinner didn’t fill our tummy enough, we went to buy some snacks and returned to our rooms thereafter. Charmaine and I were supposed to share a room, but we decided to move over to Meowlin and Eline’s room! Cosyyyyyy ^^ We showered, washed up and had our snacks while watching television. It just felt so good to be able to watch TV once again because it’s been a month since I last switched on the TV already! D:

We were all tired after such a long day and so we turned in early, before 11!

Reflection
There was one TV program we watched that I find really meaningful. I think I’ve watched it somewhere before, but this time I found it especially significant. Well it goes like that: A group of kids of age < 5 years old are supposed to travel from country to country to look for their parents, by themselves!! The one we watched was about having to travel from Sichuan (四川) to Ha Er Bin( 哈尔滨)! As all know, the temperature of Ha Er Bin is like OMG. It was -32 degrees when they were filming the show. Can you imagine 4 little kids travelling on themselves, from boarding the plane; to clearing the customs; to taking a cab to the city; to finding a restaurant to have their meal; to completing tasks for clues; to making their way to their parents? The moment when the kids hugged their Mum was so touching. If I were the parents of the young children, I will be so proud of them. When I was 5, I cannot even remember what I was doing. I’d probably still be crying in the arms of my Dad. Seriously, I find these children really brave to be able to venture out on their own. This makes me realized how fortunate I am to be born in such a complete and loving family. Since young, my parents and family are always by my side. And this trip of 42 days is the longest period I am away from them. Hopefully I’ll return stronger and more mature like those young kids ^^ It’s better to be late than never, isn’t it >.< I believe this happens not only to me, but majority of Singaporean families are very attached to one another. Well, I feel that the ability of being independent should be cultivated in Singaporean kids since young! \m/

Day 23- 26th March (Cherry Blossoms!)
So after one entire day of shopping, it’s time to return back to the routine of a long day of school D: Today’s IS lesson was on Philosophy of China. When I hear about it, I was totally turned off because I thought it was going to be like history lesson :( But to my surprise, it was not as boring as expected. We learnt about the School of thought! I never ever heard of that before. But it is a collection or group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, cultural movement, or art movement. I consists of Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and Buddhism.

I shall share a little on what I learnt :)-
- Daoism, dao jia 道家 was created by Lao tzu (老子)
Tao de ching (道德经), means the way of ultimate reality, which exists beyond the physical sense of men. Tao is also the way of universe. It moves in endless cycle and never changes. It emphasizes the simple life and the aim is to be desire-free. So Taoism rejects self assertiveness, competition and ambition.
- Mohism, mo jia 墨家 was created by Mo zi (墨子)
It promotes universal love with the aim of mutual benefit. Everyone must love each other equally and impartially to avoid conflict and war. Mo zi was strongly against Confucian ritual, instead emphasizing pragmatic survival through framing, fortification and statecraft.
- Legalism, fa jia 法家
It is a political philosophy that does not address higher questions pertaining to the nature and purpose of existence. It is concerned with the most effective way of governing society.
- Buddhism, fo jia 佛家
Introduced in India. The Buddha taught one to find peace within oneself, and that suffering stemmed from desire and attachment.

Thinking without studying is dangerous and study without thinking is useless. – Confucius

So after the first part of the class, Ms Grace wanted to dismiss us for lunch and we had to return for the second part of today’s class which is doing an assignment on comparing the behaviors of pople from different culture. She mentioned it will be a short one, so that we could go and see the pretty Cherry Blossoms! But after much negotiation, she then extended the morning class till close to 1 and we were free for the day!
I saw a woman hanging this advertisement on the car like that. Look at the ends of the poster. The water bottles are used as weights D:
The usual 7 of us went to hire the Bread Car outside the school. We asked how much it will cost us and the driver said 60RMB to and fro. The Cherry Blossoms can be found at Wuhan University, which is located quite far from WUST, so we accepted the offer. We had to pay a entrance fee of 50RMB, for I do not know what :/ I always thought that Cherry Blossoms are in pink. But I was wrong! The Cherry Blossoms that the Chinese find attractive are actually white in colour! ;O It was a very beautiful sight indeed. Then entire stretch of road was filled with white blooming flowers on the tall trees. DON'T THE FLOWERS LOOK SO SWEET? :D
(Y) 03' again ❤
We took pictures and explored on till it was time to leave. I didn't want to go because the flowers and trees are just so pretty ;{ Anyway it doesn’t feel a little like we were in a school! There were tour buses and many large tour groups there that day. However i saw that the students in Wuhan University all have a rather strong passion for sports. On the day we went, i think they're having a sports day kind of event. A volleyball competition going on!
Went back to the same spot to look for the driver and we headed back to the hostel! And you know what! I think we're cheated by the driver :( We had to pay the driver another 90RMB! He went to top up the petrol, which is charged on us (50RMB) and another 40RMB for detouring pass the East Lake. Grr, a total of 150RMB on total for travelling to and from Wuhan University. S$30, not worth it huh :( Nevermind, we will learn from our lesson!


Reflection
During the lesson, I was wondering if Buddhism is a philosophy or a religion? Religion is a jumble of ancient myths that humankind drags through ages like a celestial security blanket. It is passionate, but irrational and messy. However, philosophy is a flower of a human mind. It is reasonable and civilized. As I read up more about Buddhism on the Internet, I feel that it is more of a philosophy than a religion. Through today’s IS class, I am able to learn more about the way of life and beliefs of the Chinese in China, and the difference in culture in different countries. I feel today’s lesson is rather useful to me as it allows me to understand more about the great philosophers and their history. Now I begin to appreciate a little on history >.< Furthermore, knowing the unique cultural differences helps me if I were to be involved in an international business- especially China. This is because I’ll tend to take special notice of what to do and what not to do, so as not to offend or hurt anyone.

Also, I feel honored to be in Wuhan during this period of time where I get to experience different seasons. We managed to see snow, and now Cherry Blossoms! Lucky kids :D However, I couldn’t think through how a University became a tourist attraction. I find that it is rather ridiculous to collect fees from outsiders so that they can enter the school to see the Cherry Blossoms. This is probably the way the Chinese government works, but I think that it isn’t safe at all for the students.

Eline, Meowlin, Charmaine and I did something really daring/(silly) today! Just yesterday during our shopping trip, we all bought colorful stockings and we said that we’ll wear it if we are going to see the Cherry Blossoms. Swallowing our guts, we actually really did it! We feel it is impossible for us to wear such striking colors in Singapore because all we get will be stares and glares. But I never thought that this scene will happen over here in Wuhan too! When we got changed and stepped out of the hostel, all eyes were on us D: I thought that the people here accept all sort of fashion. Imagine we receive intense look from others even when we’re still here in China, how will we be reflected when we’re back in Singapore? Hahaha but at least now I know how ‘center of attraction’ these kind of things are ;)
❤ these girls ;)
P.s. Notice our legs! ^^