'China: Three Cities, One Heart' by Tan Guowei

China is indeed a place rich in culture and history. From Beijing to Jinan, each city has its own cultural identity. Beijing, being the capital city of China for several dynasties, coupled with its fast pace of modernization, gives one the feeling of being in an ancient town within a modern city. On the second night of our stay in Beijing, six of us from NUS went out on a night run from the hotel to Tiananmen Square at 12 midnight. The night breeze that blew gently on our faces was cool and rejuvenating. On our way to Tiananmen Square, we were greeted with curious stares by the locals whom we approached to ask for the way to Tiananmen Square. The roads were still dotted with cars even at that hour. Uniformed policemen guarded the perimeters of the Square. It was as if we were running through the passage of time as the landscape transits between the modern and the ancient within the thirty-minute run.

What left me with a deep impression in Beijing is the trishaw ride from the gate of Beihai Gongyuan to Hutong. It was drizzling. Ruizhong and me got onto the trishaw belonging to this Shifu in his sixties (Shifu is a term used to address drivers in China). Once we got onto the trishaw, Shifu draped a cloth across our feet and said, “In case you get wet.” I looked up, realized that he is not wearing a rain coat like other trishaw riders and asked him, “What about you Shifu?” His reply was, “Not to worry, this rain will stop very soon.” At this moment, I felt embarrassed because as young men in our twenties, we were ferried around in the trishaw by this man in his sixties. Shifu, despite his age, was strong and ferried us around as fast as any other younger trishaw riders who ferried ladies who are much lighter than us. I am filled with respect for him.

Of course, our stay in Beijing is never complete without our friends from Peking University and Renmin University of China. Thanks to all of you for bringing us out for supper almost every night, despite that it is so near your examination period. The friendship forged in Singapore was further reinforced during our short stay in China. Selina, Wanqi, Chengkai and me had a really good chat with Zhang Hao and Yawen on our last night in Beijing at that small eating house along Ghost Street. That gathering was really memorable. Sixty of us tried to squeeze into the small room at 11pm, overwhelming the staff of the eating house.

Jinan, Shandong province, is the hometown of the renowned Chinese scholar, Confucius. As a Chinese Literature student back in my secondary school days, Jinan allowed me to relate to what I have learnt from the textbooks. We had a great dinner reception at Shandong University on 19th May and I made some great friends with the students from SICA. Thanks to everyone, NUS, NTU, SMU and Shandong University students and teachers for making my 24th birthday a most memorable one. It was very sweet for all of you to specially prepare a birthday cake for me.

Thanks to the Shandong University students who specially came down to our hotel to send us off.

Shanghai is a cosmopolitan city. I saw European tourists along the street and hear South Korean tourists chatting beside me as I walked in the shopping malls. With its high rise commercial buildings and comfortable subway trains, it is easy to mistake Shanghai for Singapore’s Shenton Way. Shanghai Jiaotong University had organized the most interesting activities for us. One of the highlights was to make dumplings, called “jiao zi” in Chinese. It is a Chinese tradition to make dumplings during the Chinese New Year as it symbolizes reunion, called “tuan yuan” in Chinese, which literally means “coming together in circles” since dumplings are round in shape.

We had a good glimpse of the car manufacturing process at Shanghai Volkswagen. In anticipation of the F1 street circuit in Singapore in September this year, we were treated to the excitement of racing in the Shanghai F1 circuit.

Thanks to the Shanghai Jiaotong University students who came down to the restaurant and took bus with us all the way to the airport to send us off.

Let us not forget that many people are still mourning the deaths for their family members who died in the Sichuan earthquake. I pray that all of you will recover from the pain and emerge stronger. What struck me during this trip is that from the Beijing students who initiated fund raising efforts for the earthquake victims to the taxi driver who tune in to the radio for the latest reports on the earthquake to the youths in Shanghai rallying for the Beijing Olympics and the Sichuan earthquake victims, is that the Chinese are very united and passionate about their country. I really admire their love for their country.

To all our Chinese friends, I’m sure the friendship forged in the short 4 weeks that we spent together in Singapore and China will go a long way. We will see each other again!