Daily Updates from Xiamen (Day 1)

It was an awesome first day in the beautiful city of Xiamen. The city has a population of about 2 million people and is rich in culture and history. The city isn’t exactly bustling with activities and there were a lot of constructions going on. Xiamen is considered as one of the five special economic zones in China and there is evidence of its infrastructure development. Still, the city has a quaint and serene quality about it. Our tour guide, Mr Alex “Ge Ge” brought us to our first meal of the day which was at a halal restaurant. The food was staggering in its quantity but the pupils were hungry and we managed to finish most of the food.

Our first tourist attraction visit was at the Hulishan Fortress. It is an old fortress built in the mid 19th century at the mouth of Xiamen River. It boasts of having the world’s oldest Krupp canon. It is massive in size and has enormous firing power. We were fortunate to arrive just in time for a live firing demonstration of one of the canons. Even though it was just a show, it was impressive and we could just imagine all the pomp and revelry that went into every time they had to fire the canon!

Our next activity was a pleasant drive along Huan Dao Lu. It’s basically a scenic stretch of road that winds along the coastline of Xiamen. Our tour guide told us an interesting story of the special relationship between the people of Mainland China and Taiwan.

After a long and tiring day, we finally headed back to our hotel for dinner. Here are some of the pupils’ reflections of the day!

“Today was a fun day as we got to visit Hulishan Fortress and learn how the soldiers and generals live.”
- Rachel Lye

“When we reached there (Hulishan Fort), we were fortunate to catch the exciting demonstration of the Qing soldiers operating the Dutch canons. The Qing soldiers marched up to the cannon on the rock and somebody started commands. After a lot of commands, the canon was shot and there was a loud explosion.”
- Valerie

“It was an awesome day altogether!”
- Claire

“We arrived at Xiamen Airport. It was big! We had lunch in a restaurant and the food was delicious. For the first time, I actually took some vegetables and I ate 6 bowls of rice!”
- Halimah

“Waited over an hour for the bus but it was worth the wait. I enjoyed Hulishan the most, especially the dummys. I can’t wait for tomorrow!”
- Terisha Ann

“I am extremely excited as this is my first time being on an overseas trip without my parents!”
- Megan

A photo slide show of today's activities:

And here are some messages from our pupils to their parents:


"We went to a Chinese-Muslim restaurant. The food was delicious, especially the chicken. Though one thing everyone could agree on was that the rice was the best. The orange juice was good too."
- Terisha-Ann


"(Back in Singapore) I have never eaten so much food before!"
-Halimah

That's all we have for today's daily update. Remember to check us out tomorrow for another exciting update!