After staying in Shanghai's hotel for one night upon our midnight arrival in China, we had breakfast buffet in the hotel the next morning. My first meal in China was not so pleasant. The food were oily and did not taste nice at all.
After breakfast, we proceeded straight to take a 3hr ride from Shanghai to Hefei by high speed rail. This is my first time boarding a high speed rail although I have seen one before in TV programs. It looked kind of cool from the outside. Inside, it is about the same as the plane, just that the high speed rail is narrower and has only 5 seats in a row. I could not really see the scenery outside as I sat at the column nearest to the passageway.
In the train 😏
Upon getting out of the railway station, we were greeted by the scorching sun. I thought Hefei was cooler than Singapore, but it turned out that there was not much difference. The traffic condition in Hefei was no joke. Vehicles drove around dangerously on vast roads and kept beeping one another. It was really scary when we crossed the road to our travel bus. The drivers were impatiently beeping us and we were afraid they would crash into us any moment. Some of the roads did not have arrows and divisions like Singapore so I thought this might be one of the reasons of why the traffic conditions was messy.
I was thankful to avoid the sweltering heat in the air-conditioned bus, not to mention how big and luxurious this bus was. Not long after boarding the bus, we witnessed an accident not far away. Many of us were shocked as we seldom witnessed one before. However, within a short period of time, we witnessed another accident not far away. It horrified me because there were so many accidents occurring in Hefei. I thought I have to be more careful when crossing the roads.
Soon later, we arrived at a restaurant for lunch. The food was not too pleasant too. The environment was very dirty and did not have air-conditions at all. It did not even looked like a restaurant. I did not went to the toilets, but according to many of our classmates, it was extremely dirty with flies all around. I thought I better not go and ruin my appetite.
After lunch, we proceeded for our first learning journey in 三河古镇 (Sanhe Guzhen). The buildings were like Chinese houses long ago and appears ancient dramas. This place is beautiful. However, the guide sometimes left some of us behind while she continued talking on and on. Not understanding what we were looking at as she rumbles on, I felt kind of bored during this visit at 三河古镇.
Some sceneries in 三河古镇...
Shops in 三河古镇...
Dinner at a restaurant nearby was definitely much better as compared to the one we had for breakfast and lunch. The appearance of the restaurant was good, and the food tasted better. After that, we headed off to check in our hotel. We ended our day with mini ice breaker games and reflections time.
Although it was quite a boring and disappointing Day 1 in Hefei, it made me learn more about the environment and life style in China. I guess I have to adapt to it soon. I wonder what adventures and challenges are awaiting us down the week.
~ Kitty
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