On the 8^th of April, 27 of us together with 3 teachers arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Mr. Dong, a teacher from the High School Affiliated to Fudan University, welcomed us and helped us take a group photo. Then, we took a shuttle bus and went to our dormitory. After we settled, Mr. Dong gave us a card for purchasing lunch in the canteen and we all went to the canteen for our first meal in Shanghai, which was delicious.

After lunch, Mr. Dong led us to a conference room where we met our counter part buddies. We were both excited and nervous about who will be our counter part buddies. After the meeting, we followed our buddies to their respective classrooms, attending different lessons, for example, biology, history, etc. Our buddies then led us on a school tour.

Day 2's programme was a whole day of school. At first, I thought that the teaching syllabus will be similar. To my surprise, the syllabus are totally different and their syllabus is equal to our S5 syllabus. I was so amazed and shocked by the high standard of education in their school and had a feeling that I must work much harder to keep up the standard. Apart from the syllabus, the timetable is very different from our school too. In their school, instead of breaks they have a resting period of 10 minutes between each lesson.

On day 3, we started our day off with lessons in school, accompanied by our buddies as we followed their Wednesday timetables. We attended Politics class as well as the Physical Education class offered by their school. The Politics class, to our surprise, was very different from what we expected: we thought we would be learning about the political environment in China and international relations. Instead, the class was about economics: market economy and companies' credibility. In the Physical Education lessons, we were told by our buddies that they were allowed to choose the sports they would like to learn about and master it throughout the school year.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the city centre of Shanghai. We first arrived at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. This Exhibition Hall showcases a wide range of topics, from the history of Shanghai to the development of Shanghai to a model which displays the city planning of the entire Shanghai municipality.

After paying the visit to the Exhibition Hall, we travelled to The Bund, one of the most well-known places in Shanghai. The Bund is a waterfront area located in central Shanghai, and includes the old headquarters of banks constructed with early 20th century architecture, while on the opposite bank of the Huangpu River lie the modern skyscrapers of the Pudong District. It was definitely a relaxing moment as we strolled along the harbourfront in groups, while taking photos and enjoying the scenery. Afterwards, we walked to Nan Jing Lu (Bu Xing Jie) and set off to shop for souvenirs to bring back to Hong Kong.

In the evening, we dined at BaoLong Cuisine restaurant and watched the ‘Intersection of Time’, an acrobatics show by the Shanghai Circus World troupe. The show was indeed very fascinating and we were enthralled by the grace and athleticism of the acrobats.

On Thursday, we took a 1.5 hour ride to High School Affiliated to Fudan University, Qingpu Campus which is located in the Qingpu area. Mr. Dong told us that the school has only around 1000 students (including middle school and high school) and they all have to stay in the dormitory. After a short briefing by Mr. Dong, Miss Chan, a teacher from the High School Affiliated to Fudan University, Qingpu Campus, welcomed us and took us on a school tour. After that, Miss Chan led us into a classroom and the VA teacher in school taught us a lesson on printmaking. She asked us to carve our favourite patterns that we wanted on the rubber mat. Then we transferred the pattern on a piece of rubber and carved it with a set of carving knives. We all enjoyed this activity a lot. Then, we ate in their canteen and set off for our trip to Zhujiajiao.

Zhujiajiao is an ancient town located in the Qingpu district. It is a water town which has a long history. It was established 1,700 years ago and is now a famous tourist attraction in Shanghai. Along the two sides of the river are many shops selling handmade food or other products. We spent around one hour there for sightseeing, buying food and souvenirs. Later, we also visited a strawberry farm where we picked as well as ate some fresh strawberries.

On day 5, we had lessons with our buddies. As this is the last chance we spent time with our buddies, we all prepared gifts for our buddies. For me, I wrote a postcard to my buddy to thank her for the care throughout the week. I wanted to give her some gifts that are special and are something that cannot be bought in Shanghai so I gave her some snacks that I brought from Hong Kong. She told me that she had never seen these snacks before and will definitely share it with her family. Then, she gave me a red little bag and said that it is a present for me. I was so surprised and moved that she prepared a gift from me. I looked inside the bag and found out there are 2 snacks called "狀元餅". She told me that it is a unique snack from Shanghai and after eating it, I will have good grades in exams. Although I still cannot "test" whether it actually works or not as I haven’t had my exams, I was very grateful for having such a kind buddy and I treasured the friendship built throughout the week. After lessons and lunch time, we headed to the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre. It is a centre talking about the history of the Shanghai expo in 2010. The model there fully demo弓strates how huge and beautiful this worldwide event is. Then we headed to Tianzifang. Tianzifang is named after a famous painter, Tianzifang, in China and is a place representing creativity. There, you can find a lot of artworks with different styles, such as modern, classical and European style.

Finally, we went to visit Fudan University, a mere few blocks away from the High School Affiliated to Fudan University. We were brought on a tour around the campus of the university. As we walked around the campus, visiting different blocks in the University, all of us appreciated the fresh yet sweet scent of flowers and grass planted around the campus. After the visit to the Fudan University, we had our last meals in Shanghai, and prepared for our departure to Hong Kong.

Although these six days seem to have passed quickly, we felt that we had learnt a lot and experienced more than what we had thought possible. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the High School Affiliated to Fudan University and DGS for organizing this meaningful exchange. In addition, we would like to thank the three teachers from DGS: Mr Lau, Mr Wong and Miss Kong who accompanied us to Shanghai, and took care of us throughout the whole trip. Last but not least, we thank Mrs Lau for her role in making this once-in-a-lifetime exchange possible. We are sure that the friendships cultivated in these few days will be maintained, and the memories we created will remain unforgotten.

Reported by: Annette Chan, Sophie Heung and Celesta Yik

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