Day 4 - Outing to ZhangZhao Park Posted by SuperJuniorF , Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 11:47 PM, in

My roommates bought breakfast for me today! I was having flu and I did not wake up. So because they wanted me to rest, they headed out to get breakfast for me. I woke up at 11am, brushed my teeth, bathed, ate my breakfast and off I was to Zhongshan Park! As I walk out of WUST from the back gate, I saw many teenagers playing basketball at the basketball court. For me, it is rather interesting because there were roughly about 6 basketball courts, all courts are full of people and most of them are playing in such a cold weather, which I think is something most Singaporeans will not be able to do.

Then me and my friends took a 7-seater taxi to Zhangshan Park! While I was sitting in the taxi, one of the WUST students explained to me about China's flag. According to her, the red background symbolizes the revolution and the golden colours were used to "radiate" on the red background. The five stars represents the unity of Chinese people under the leadership of Communist Party of China. The orientation of the stars shows that the unity should go around a center. She herself was not very sure of the meaning but she said that the larger star symbolizes the Communist Party of China, and the four smaller stars that surround the big star symbolize the people, the four social classes which is the working class, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie of Chinese people. I also showed her how the Singapore dollar notes and coins look like and she was quite happy because she loves to look at the Lion and the Tiger on the notes. ^_^

So finally I reached Zhangshan Park. The first thing I saw before walking into the park was a bunch of rabbits in a cage which was for sale! I pity the rabbits and rather torturing for the rabbits because they are not sold at pet shops but sold on the streets. Furthermore, it is quite unhygienic.

Zhangshan Park is a beautiful park filled with beautiful sceneries, lakes, a statue of Sun Yat-sen and an amusement park! Zhongshan Park is actually a common name of chinese parks in honour of Sun Yat-sen, who is known by many to be the "Father of modern China". In the park, there is also a large statue of him and his wife. After I took a picture with the statue, I was told by one of the WUST students that Sun Yat-sen was the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912. I know that in Singapore, there is no statue of Yusof Ishak, our first president but there is a statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, best known as the founder of Singapore.

There are many things I did at the theme park. First was playing the rides of course! The rides were similar to the ones in Genting Highlands. I experienced dejavu while being in the area as the rides I took reminded me of the times I spent with my family at Genting Highlands. Despite having the dejavu, it was still fun because now I am spending quality time with my friends in a very cold country taking fun rides especially the roaller coaster! ^_^

After I was satisfied playing the rides at the amusement park, we took a stroll back to get to the haunted house! Even while strolling out of the park, I encountered a few interesting stuffs. First was a certain item used during a circus act. I am not sure what they call it but I call it the big yo-yo. I tried playing with it as the seller was nice enough to let me have a try. It was not easy but I managed to do the basic move which is to roll the dumb-bell-like object on a single string! ^_^

After that, I saw a fluffy purple puppy! Even though some may find it normal because a dog can be dyed, but I find it amusing because I have NEVER seen and will NEVER see a purple puppy with winter clothings on in Singapore! ^_^

And for athletes who are in track and field and play soccer, do not be surprised that although Wuhan is not as developd as Singapore, their sports facilities are top class. Here is a picture of a soccer field and track that I saw with my own eyes in Wuhan. There is an artificial grass field and a perfect 8-lane track in the middle of rural houses in Wuhan. It is amazng how a beautiful and a good quality sports facility is in the middle of torn and worn down buildings! The feeling was indescribable when I first saw it. It is like finding a lost treasure in ancient egypt. ^_^

So finally, I arrived at the haunted house which is in a shopping centre. It is really something worth remembering because firstly, there is no haunted house in Singapore which has 5 different levels of scariness. Secondly, the haunted house is situated in a shopping centre and not in an amusement park. Lastly, it was the first haunted house I have been to which uses real people to scare their visitors. I wish Singapore would create a haunted house like that. Then many people can experience the shock and excitement when someone just shouts in the dark or appears out of nowhere. ^_^

Another thing special about the shopping centre that I went to is not only about the haunted house but because there are more than 10 badminton courts in the shopping centre! I have seen ice skating rinks in a shopping centre, I have seen bowling alleys, I have seen an amusement park in shopping centre but I have never seen badminton courts in a shopping centre! I was really amused the first time I saw the courts because while people were shopping on one side of the wall, the side were playing badminton! It was really a rare sigh because in Singapore, most badminton courts will either be in public area, in a country club, a condominium or a community club, never in a shopping centre. However, maybe there is a reason for setting up so many courts in one area. In my opinion, maybe the courts are set-up there because unlike Singapore, Wuhan do not have community centres or a country club everywhere. So maybe by situating many badminton courts at one place, it allows many players to come down from all over Wuhan and play! ^_^

At last, I had a buffet dinner. It was so delicious that I ate until I had a stomach ache! Here are some of the pictures I took during dinner! ^_^

Now you see what I mean? ^_^

Reflection
Today's outing was very fun! I saw a lot of things which I never will see in Singapore. In my opinion, Wuhan is actually quite updated in terms of technology and recreation. The only thing seperating it from Singapore is the overall condition of the country and its people. What I mean by this is cleanliness of the country and the rules of the country. I realised that the people there are so used of living in dirty conditions and breaking the rules that they do not bother to change it. This is not the case for Singapore because whenever a Singaporean commits a small crime like littering or a big crime like reckless drving, Singaporeans will either be fined or jail depending on the degree of the crime they committed. Comparing Wuhan to Singapore, I think Wuhan has more recreational things to do than Singapore but Singapore is a much cleaner country. That is why Singapore is known as a clean and green country. In terms of its people, most of the people in Singapore are bilingual but most of the people in China are monolingual. Although I know that China is a fast-developing country, but I think if the locals knows at least basic conversational english, China would be a country that every other country would have full-respect for. ^_^