Moving into the temple itself, the first thing that caught my eye is an exquisitely craved urn standing in the middle of the courtyard and is filled with water. There was a craved tortoise in it and is surrounded by many coins. It was said that it doubles as a wishing well. One only has to wish hard and drop a coin into the urn. If the coin falls and stays on the tortoise, their wish will come true. Counting from the number of coins that fall on top of the tortoise, I’d say that only 5 of them had their wish fulfilled.
Moving away from the courtyard, a thousand year old room beckoned to us. No water was to be brought in as it was really old with its original design and structure still intact. It filled me with a sense of awe to be able to see such a ancient structure and it makes me wonder, how did the architects managed to build such a building that is hanging on the side of the mountain. It seems, tough.
We left the place really carefully and were then ushered into a room filled with the scent of tea, the room called 茶道. There were many ladies dressed in traditional costume and were all brewing tea and at the same time, trying to promote and sell the various types of tea that they have in stock.
Once we were done, we left the place and headed to the last place of attraction. It was simply really far by foot and there were stairs EVERYWHERE! Well, it seems that wishing trees are still popular in this part of China as I could see red wishing ropes hang on huge trees here and there. One more lesson learnt is that past Chinese emperors loved to have statues of tortoise in the temple or around the place. Tortoises symbolize longevity and well, which emperor wouldn’t like to live long during his reign?

Day 27

The day I was not really looking forward to, even though it was the day we were to make our way back to campus. We were to tackle the武当山 today, climbing to its peak to enjoy the scenery. It was a daunting 5161 steps to challenge. The night before, it was freezing and since I didn’t pack in warm clothing, I had to suffer for a bit and endure the biting wind. Even though this was the case, I was actually enjoying the cold as this is something you don’t experience in Singapore, so why not make the most out of it? Besides, I love to be out in the cold environment. =)
We begin the climb promptly at 7.30am and it was a smooth descend to the foot of the mountain. It was there when the horror started. I didn’t have much of an appetite so I didn’t have a good breakfast even though I know I was going to be climbing later. So, the lack of sufficient food finally got to me and I developed a headache and hunger pangs. Since there were no way I was going to give up halfway and turn tail, I decided to press forward at a slower rate. Well, I could enjoy the scenery around me too. The air was fresh and cooling, the surroundings were quiet, occasionally broken by the clucking of the mountain hens. Climbing up the steps was tedious as due to the wet weather, the steps were slick and it was broken off in some areas. To me, climbing these steps was akin to walking through life. In life there were many obstacles to be taken in stride and even to overcome. Like what the proverb would say, “A journey begins with the first step”. The first step is the most crucial point but so are the subsequent steps after it. It’s no use taking the important first step only to give up and falter at the next few steps. This is really a life principle and it was because of these thoughts that I persevere and managed to reach the top despite the headache and all.

The peak of the mountain is known as 金顶. The stairs leading to金顶 had handrails which are all covered with locks. I found out that the locks were placed there by hopeful couples who wished that they would have a lasting and loving relationship and that when they return a few years later, if they can still find the lock that they had placed, their wish will come true. Sounds like a plan to get people to come back repeatedly to 武当山. 金顶 is actually quite a small area which consists of places to get souvenirs, the couple locks and a central building where there were bamboo poles boarding up the windows. It was said that if one touches all the bamboo poles surrounding the building and then get a 1 yuan coin to remain on the window of the building, wealth would come their way. It seems to me like a joke but it seems like there were many believers.
Leaving the place behind, we went to take the cable car down instead of walking down as it saves a lot more time and effort. I never liked taking cable cars and especially not this time as it was really shaky though I’d say that the view is magnificent.
All in all, it was a fruitful trip. I have a better understanding on the principles in life and at the same time, managed to train my stamina (if you can call walking 5161 steps training stamina) and enjoy breath-taking views. Got to know many different beliefs of the locals and saw different places of interest where I cannot find in Singapore.

Day 28

A day trip to the nearest pharmaceutical company near to the campus. We were excited to see if there are any major differences in the pharmaceutical companies in China and Singapore. Upon reaching our destination, all of us noticed the lone buffalo in the middle of a field with a man standing beside it. Upon closer examination, I realized that the buffalo employed to plow the fields. Apparently, our guide mentioned that the buffalo was there to plow the fields to prevent the accumulation of the dust on the dead field which might spread to the surrounding buildings where they are doing experiments to create new medicines. However, if they want to talk about hygiene, they shouldn’t even be bringing in the buffalo to plow the fields. By plowing the field, they are raising the dirt and dust from the grounds which may then spread to the surrounding laboratories.

Well, due to the fact that the company does not want us to reveal any secrets of their company to the outside world, we were not allowed to enter the buildings and instead, we started to play merry-go-round around the compound. The place we were allowed to enter is only the warehouse on account that we do not take photos inside the warehouse. Talk about hushing everything up. Everything on the perimeter of the compound are just like the normal stuff we can find in Singapore’s pharmaceutical company. We were not allowed to have a closer look at the cleanrooms nor are we allowed to view the processes that goes on inside. To sum up, I was pretty disappointed. The whole point of coming to visit the pharmaceutical company is definitely not to just take a walk around the perimeter and then go home. Oh well, just as a country has its rules, a company too, have its own rules to abide by. Guess it didn’t matter. I’ll just imagine that it looks like Singapore, though it is very obvious that the cleanroom are way larger than those found in Singapore.

Day 29

A free morning to go whatever it is that we please. Afternoon’s lesson was on the clinical trials and Dr. Tan gave us medical journals to read and then to comment on why it is concluded that the trials mentioned in the journals failed and what are the suggestion we can come up with to improve the trials. It wasn’t too bad even though I managed to pick the longest essay to read. My group and I managed to have fun while doing the mini discussion.
After dinner, there was an interaction between the local students and us and it was in the form games organized by them and song and dance from us. There was nothing else to do but either participate in the games, sing along with the songs being played or just watch quietly from one corner. There was only interaction between students that went for the immersion trip and little interaction between us and the students organizing the event. Despite that, it was an enjoyable night though the only regret is not being able to play alongside with the organizers.

Day 30

Last IS module for the entire 6 weeks we were going to stay in Wuhan. Happy to clear the IS modules but not really glad to have the dean teaching us again. Fine, I’m going to stay positive. Nothing interesting happening today. The only thing that was miraculous to me was that I actually managed to stay awake in his class. It was that boring, because I have had that lecture of Buddhism since I was young even though I am a free thinker.