China Trip, Xingyang 15th Nov

We continue travelling deeper into Henan Province, and arrive in Xingyang to visit the middle school (the equivalent of a secondary school in mainland China), 荥阳三中. Although the driver and tour guide had some problems locating the school, we managed to reach it in the end and were greeted warmly by the Principals, staff and students of the school. After some brief introduction by the Principal, the students got to mingle around. Thereafter, our group was lead around the school grounds for a tour of the facilities. Being a rather prestigious school in Xingyang, Xingyang San Zhong was quite large and had the basic facilities of a normal Chinese school.

What is more remarkable (but not noticed by most of our students) is that Chinese students had a high level of discipline, because when we were stomping up the stairs, there was no noise at any level, all these despite the fact that there are about 52 students in each class! In China, the students travel around the school quietly and orderly, and listened attentively during lessons. During physical training, you can hear the students shouting cheers very clearly across the running track. Given the same scenario, our Singapore students will rather walk when the teacher is not hard on them. Also, when called upon to perform or do public speaking, Chinese students definitely had the confidence and discipline to discharge the task. On the other hand, our students back in Singapore will either give all sorts of excuses or refuse to speak up in front of their own class, much less in front of foreign visitors. Obviously, we have to do more to ensure that our students can present themselves well, and that they do not choose to do it or not. Some might say I am adopting too harsh a stand, but I think we must prepare our students for future challenges ahead and not just offer them soft options.

After the tour, both sides put up simple performances as a gesture of cultural exchange. The Chinese students sang their school song and a translated version of Zhang Xueyou's Farewell 《吻别》 while our students prepared 3 songs and a skit. I was thanking myself for my foresight as I had arranged with the group leaders to decide on the songs to perform and got them prepared for it. Had we not iron out that out, our students would not have been clear what to put up for the exchange other than the skit.

After spending an hour and a half in Xingyang San Zhong, we had a brief exchange of gifts and had a photo-taking session in front of the school. Before we left, our students also presented the Chinese students with simple gifts as a token of appreciation for their hospitality. Needless to say, the students exchange emails and left quite an impression on the Chinese students, particularly since our group was mainly girls and they had quite a number of boys.