Undergraduate Koay Yi Ling went with her varsity choir to Hangzhou for a choral competition where she experiences the land of her ancestors and watches a total solar eclipse.
Eclipse of the sun in its full glory at 9.30am (left) & the streets of Hangzhou during the eclipse (right)
I recently went to Hangzhou for a choral competition with my university (National University of Singapore) choir, and what an experience it was. This was my first trip to the land of my ancestors, the land that my grandfather left before he was a teenager to seek greener pastures abroad.
As much as I would like to indulge in my sentimentality of going to China for the first time, there was definitely a feeling of disconnect, largely due to the language barrier. Being the banana that I am; yellow on the outside, white on the inside, I relied heavily on translations from my friends when the tour guide explained the history of Hangzhou. That was then when I realised I am a foreigner in that land.
The National University of Singapore choir
The buildings in Hangzhou looked modern and new but rather empty, the reason being that it is a newly developing place. The development of the area had only started 10 years back, so the new structures are still under-used. After arriving at Pudong airport in Shanghai we took a three-hour drive to Hangzhou to the Tian Yuan Tower Hotel.
Along the way, we passed agricultural fields with peculiarly homogenous-looking houses. They were all three-storey grey, brick houses, with the same structure and even the same window panes, row after row. Impressive in its rate of development, impressive in its uniformity, I guess that is what I deem a country like China to be.
The competition venue, the Hangzhou Grand Theatre, was no less impressive. Shaped like a giant golden ping-pong ball, the structure is so beautiful when it is lit up at night and, most importantly, it functions well. The acoustics of the hall were great, making singing there a joy.
The Hangzhou Grand Theatre
The temperature when I was there was scorching hot and went up to as high as 41 degrees Celsius even when it was night-time! I had not thought that it would be so hot in China, so that was a surprise for me. They say that the air in foreign lands smells different, I do not know how much of that is literal, but for Hangzhou, it is very true. One could smell the heavy haze that blurs the skyline, reminding us once again, that we are in a rapidly developing place.
Fortunately, on the day when the solar eclipse happened, the skies were not too foggy, and we got to witness the amazing phenomenon. China is one of the few places that got a view of this historic total eclipse. It happened around 9.30am when the moon eclipsed the sun and the whole surrounding just went as dark as night. I had to grope around to find my camera! For more than five minutes, it was night-time at 9.30 in the morning. The experience was just awesome.
The Dragon Well Green Tea plantation in Hangzhou
We were taken to the Dragon Well Green Tea plantation where we saw the process of making tea leaves and learnt about the benefits of drinking tea. This high-quality tea is one of the things that Hangzhou is famous for and, according to the spokesperson, even Queen Elizabeth II drinks it, although the variety she drinks is from the wild tea plants harvested from the forests and is not commercially sold. What was a little uncomfortable though, was the persistent attempt to sell us the tea. The spokesperson was so eager that in the end, we bought packs of it.
The Hangzhou food is very salty, even for me who loves salty food. There are dishes, which seem to be staples, served to us at every meal - brinjal, celery and watermelon. We could actually predict what we were going to have for the next meal. It was rather amusing to see these vegetables and fruits laid on the table every time we eat and the boys grunting because they do not like them.
The food in Shanghai, where we spent the last day of our trip, was better. We stopped by a street side for lunch and I had the famous Shanghai dumplings, which were delicious. I would love to try the other things like the cold dishes but did not have time because we wanted to tour the city area.
Left: Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower
We went around the Puxi area along the famous roads like Nanjing Lu and Huaihai Lu. As we were driving down some roads, the landscape on the right differed from the one on the left. The buildings on the right were shorter and their architecture had colonial influences, while the ones on the left were tall with modern architecture. This charming diversity of the Shanghai buildings is a result of one part being developed first by the government. However, this will not last long as the older part will be closed for renovation soon, to make Shanghai a truly big and modern city.
Coincidentally, it is in this city where I was first spoken to in English by a salesperson when she noticed that I am not local. In Hangzhou, no one spoke English but in Shanghai, there are a lot of people who could speak English quite well.
Right: Street alley in Shanghai
Lastly, before we our departure we were brought to a shopping district to spend some time, and our money too! I was struck by how much demand there is for items considered to be part of consumerist culture. There were big brand names with equally big retail spaces; Zara, Uniqlo, and even H&M, which is not found in Singapore. These stores were filled with people, a testament to the growing affluence of China. People were out shopping in the middle of a weekday, not unlike Singapore. It was in the shopping centre where I felt a sense of familiarity, like that place can possibly be Singapore, if not for the signs that are all printed in Chinese characters.
The trip to China was a great experience. It is a country that has gone so far back in history, yet is so far ahead in terms of its development now. There is definitely much more to see in a country so big and diverse, and I look forward to going back there next time.
Author’s Note
Koay Yi Ling, a 21-year-old undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, loves the fun stuff in life – food, music and travel. She thinks the most important element to make a good holiday great is the company one is with.
Left: The writer with the trophy won at the choral competition.
• Photos courtesy of the writer and her friends
