We managed to sleep in a little longer before we checked out. After breakfast, we went to a hutong. Hutong is made up of several neighbourhoods with alleys of traditional courtyard (shiyuen) residences. We took a trishaw ride along the narrow alleys of the residences and admire the architecture of these old houses with courtyards. Many of these hutongs had been demolished to make way for new roads and houses. We alighted at one of the courtyards. We learnt to make dumplings in the courtyard like in olden times where the residents would come together to make dumplings. It was quite an experience for us. We also had lunch in one of the houses and they served us their homecooked food.
胡同、四合院
Hutong, Courtyard
After lunch, we went to the Beijing Urban Planning Centre. In this 4 storeys building, we had the opportunity to see the masterplan of the Beijing's urban construction as well as the splendid future of Beijing city development. We also went to the movie hall in the centre to watch a clip about the 3000 year history of Beijing as a city and 850 year history as a capital. This gave us a deeper understanding of the history to the Forbidden City and the construction around it.
北京市规划展览馆
Beijing Urban Planning Centre
Next, we visited a bookshop and some of us bought some Chinese storybooks and stationery. The bookshop is huge and they sell a variety of books. It is something like the Kinokuniya in Singapore but just that most of the books are in Chinese.
Finally, our last destination for the trip was a gymnasium. We saw how hard the Rhythmic gymnasts train under the China Coaches. Some of us participated in the training session. The gymnasts were very friendly and hospitable. They prepared a lot of little gifts for us.
中央社会主义学院
The gymnasium was our last stop before heading to the airport. Thank you for the wonderful memories in Beijing and Tianjin....
Goodbye Beijing!!! Hello Singapore!!!
Thank you Teachers for all big and small efforts all of you put in to make this Beijing and Tianjin trip so wonderful and meaningful for our children. They surely have seen, learned, and experienced much during the week.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your hard work and commitment for crafting the interesting blog as well. We enjoyed reading and seeing the pictures everyday. More so for knowing that the teachers are sacrificing their rest-time for it.
Once again,
GOOD JOB and THANK YOU!
Rachel's Tan Daddy said,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more of what Claudia's Mom & Dad has said..
Thank you very much to all Teachers and Staff who have made the trip a wonderful experience for our girls.
Everyday, we were also eagerly awaiting for the blog to be updated with the day's event and hopefully lots and lots of pictures to enjoy.
Well Done!!