中国第一印象
🇨🇳 First impressions of China
最近翻看我以前在中国旅行的一些旧照片，我突然感到时间过得真是飞快。不知不觉中，十一年就这样溜走了。
As I was flipping through the old photographs that I had taken during a trip to China, a strange feeling of nostalgia rushed over me. How fast time flies! Eleven years has gone by since then…
从小到大，中国在我心目中一直占据着特殊的地位。在我小时候，我经常关注中国的新闻，听中文歌曲，还着迷于观看香港古装电视剧。因此，尽管我从未在中国居住过，甚至没踏上中国的土地，年纪小小的我已经对中国有一种难以形容的亲切感。
From my childhood, China has held a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to China TV news that my parents/relatives would watch, enjoying Chinese language music, as well as catching Hong Kong period dramas. Even though I had never lived in China before nor step a foot on the land of China, as a young child, I felt a strange sense of connection towards China.
我是在2012那年，刚满十四岁, 第一次踏上中国大陆的土地。
In the year of 2012, the year I just turned fourteen, I got the opportunity to visit mainland China for the first time.
那年我很荣幸被选上参与一个学校文化交流的活动，给了我一个宝贵的机会到上海和苏州旅游和当地的学生认识学习。那年的十一月，我和其他十一位同学，以及两位老师一同从新加坡飞往上海。
I was fortunate to be selected for a cultural exchange program in my secondary school which gave me the precious opportunity to visit Shanghai and Suzhou to learn about the local culture as well as intermingle with the local students. In the month of November, together with eleven other students and two teachers, we boarded a plane from Singapore to Shanghai.
我记得当我们抵达上海时，已经是傍晚了。吃完晚饭之后，我们去的第一个站就是著名的上海滩。那里人山人海，充满了许多游客拍照留念。那个晚上的夜景真是美不胜收。
I remember that when we arrived in Shanghai, it was already evening. After eating a delicious dinner, the first stop we made was the Shanghai bund. It was filled with many other people, perhaps tourists like us, snapping photographs and capturing happy memories. The view at the bund was magnificent.
我和同学们一边靠在栏杆上，一边欣赏外滩的美景。年幼的我们，叽叽咋咋兴奋地讨论眼前的景色，感受着凉风吹过我们的脸颊。可以说，对岸最显眼的建筑就是上海的一座最有代表性的建筑，上海东方明珠。
While leaning against the railing, my classmates and I marveled at the stunning Shanghai coastline. Excitedly, we chattered amongst ourselves about the picturesque view and felt the cool breeze brush against our cheeks. The architectural structure in the opposite side of the coastline that stood out the most was undoubtly the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower.
我不太记得我们在那里呆了多久, 但是那一刻足够给了我中国的初次深刻印象。所以之后每当我想起中国，那晚的画面就会浮现在我脑海里。
I don’t recall how long we stayed at the Bund for, but it was long enough to etch a profound first impression of mainland China into my memory. From then on, whenever I think of China, that particular scene from that day invariably comes to mind.
我们在上海游玩了两天，之后乘坐一辆巴士去到了苏州。在苏州，我们主要是在苏州外国语学校居住。学校的老师和同学都很热情地接待我们，介绍给我们校园设施和学生生活，让我们感到受欢迎。每位同学都被分配与一名本地同学一起互动和上课。至于我的女同学伙伴的名字，我已经不记得了。因为那个时候我并不经常使用手机，也没有微信，除了电子邮件地址外，我们没有互相留下联系号码。但在告别之前，我们拍了一张照片，作为留念。
We spent a total of two days in Shanghai. Afterwards, we boarded a bus and headed towards Suzhou where we would be spending the majority of our time at.
When we arrived at Suzhou, it was planned for us to reside in the dormitory of the Suzhou Foreign Language School. Our arrival was greeted with much enthusiasm from the school as both the teachers and students welcomed us warmly. We were given a thorough introduction to the school’s facilities and student life.
Each of us was paired with a local student. We introduced ourselves to each other and attended classes together in the following days. Unfortunately, I don’t remember my buddy’s name anymore. As I was not an avid phone user then, and didn’t have WeChat, we could only exchange emails. Before I left, we took a photo together for memory sake.
那里的校园生活与新加坡有许多不同之处。例如，学生们在午饭后有一个三十分钟的休息时间。他们每天还要进行体操。新加坡的学生，通常中午一两点就可以下课了，可是那里的学生基本上从早到晚都在上课，确实很辛苦。
During my time at the school, I observed many differences between the school with my own. For example, it was common for the students there to take a thirty minute nap break after lunch. This was unusual for us and not heard of in Singapore. Secondly, they also had breaks between lessons time where students from all levels would gather at the parade square to perform mass exercises together. It was a novel experience for me and my classmates and we had fun joining them.
China is known to have one of the toughest and competitive education system in the world. I can attest to this. In the school at Suzhou that I was attached to, the students started their classes early in the morning 8am and only ended in the late evening 8pm. It must be really tiring and stressful. In Singapore, on most days, our schools tend to end officially at 1 or 2pm.
除了在外国语学校，我们的学校老师也给我们安排了许多的活动。我们的行程每天都是满满的。我们游览了博物馆、参观了苏州工业区、欣赏了绿园，还逛了购物中心和古镇等各种地方。
Our school teachers also arranged many activities for us outside of the school. We had a whale of time accumulating new experiences and taking in new sights. We toured Museums, visited Singapore-Suzhou Industrial park, admired Suzhou gardens and strolled in shopping streets and Ancient Towns.
上有天堂，下有苏州
上海繁华和时髦。苏州的生活节奏比较慢，展现出独特的江南风情。在我们去过的所有地方中, 我最喜欢的就是苏州绿园。绿园完美地展示了中国人的优雅审美观。我可以想象古人是如何重视享受生活的。在如此美丽的环境中，也难怪中国培养了那么多伟大的诗人和文学家。
Shanghai is an advanced and modern metropolis. On the other hand, Suzhou has a much slower pace of life, with its unique Jiangnan Charm.
Out of all the places we visited, my favourite would be the famous Suzhou Chinese Classical gardens. They perfectly showcase the elegant aesthetic sense of the Chinese people. I can imagine how much importance the ancient Chinese people place on the enjoyment of life. In such a beautiful environment, it’s no wonder China has nurtured so many great artists and literary figures.
2012年的上海苏州旅程给了我对中国的第一个美好印象。我所看到的中国并不像外国媒体所描述的那么“肮脏”和 “不文明”，而是相反的。中国的发展速度非常快，所以我记忆中的苏州可能与现在有些不同了吧？我希望将来还有机会再去苏州，重温当年的经历。
My 2012 trip to Shanghai and Suzhou had left a lasting beautiful impression on me. The China I had encountered was not as “dirty” and “uncivilised” as described by foreign media, but quite the opposite.
China’s development has been very rapid over the years, and I have not been back to Suzhou (well, I visited Shanghai in 2017 again) since then. My memories of Suzhou might be different from how it actually is now. I hope to have the opportunity to visit Suzhou again in the future and relive those beautiful memories.
