Author: rtoce

Day 7
The 6am wake up call was made bearable by the fact that we had finally had access to coffee after 2 days on the boat. We then left Guiyang and travelled for around 3 hours to the Miao Village. To reach the village we drove up an incredibly steep mountain and we’re all extremely excited to hike up it tomorrow. We were welcomed to the village with firecrackers, traditional songs and dancing as well as traditional music. As we walked into the village the ladies poured us cups of tea which is a minor-friendly version of the traditional rice wine. We were then shown to the Chief’s House where we ate a delicious welcome lunch. 
After lunch we went down to the school to see the kids. They were all very happy to see us. They sang us a song and gave us drawings. We sang an extremely passionate rendition of the school hymn – in many different keys to showcase our musical talent. We also gave them gifts, which they were very excited to receive. Mr Toohey then presented the principal with the computer that we bought for the school with our fundraised money. We split off into three groups – painting a mural on the school wall, erecting new basketball hoops (which we donated with the money we raised!) and corn husking.
We were both on ‘Corn Duty’. In this activity we sat in a room and picked the dried kernels off the corn cob. The corn is a staple food and it is ground to make flour and also for pig feed. The corn is essential for the villagers. Corn Duty is very physically demanding: first we had to break the corn in half (this is harder than it sounds), then we experimented with different methods of removing the kernels. First we banged the corn together, then we peeling it off with our thumbs and finally we settled on twisting the corn in a corkscrew motion as the most efficient method. When we finished this we had only shelled one bag of corn – after 3 hours. Last month the local women shelled 200kg of corn in half a day. This really humbled us and provided us with an understanding of how hard and physically challenging it is to make a living in the village. Now this might sound ‘corny’ but we did have lots of fun and enjoyed talking to the villagers in our very limited Miao dialect. 
After visiting the village, we went to our accomodation, which were guest houses in Xi Jiang. We then went to dinner where we were greeted with another traditional Miao welcome. The ladies sang us a traditional song while pouring tea, we returned the favour with an even more incredible performance of the school hymn – this time not only were we in different keys, we were in different time signatures. After dinner we had an hour and a half to shop where we practiced our bartering skills once again.
Today has been an incredibly humbling and interesting day, proving to be a highlight of the trip so far. This day was made even better when we found out we get an hours sleep in tomorrow morning with a wake up call at a positively late 7:30!
Nicola and Izzy 🙂

We woke to the sound of the traditional Chinese music that precedes the wake up call on our cruise. We got ready and walked to the buffet for a filling breakfast. It was there that our tour guide, Stony, who informed us that we had arrived at Yichang in the Hubei province. We were told that after checking out of the cruise, we would be getting a scenic tour of the expansive Three Gorges Dam. We boarded a tour bus and proceeded towards the tourism centre of the dam. After going through security, we then traveled to the base of a mountain, where we laid eyes onto a model of the Three Gorges project. After this intriguing exhibit, we then adventured to the top of the mountain and we were treated to an exquisite panorama of the entire Three Gorges project. The lush greenery contrasted the massive man made structure of the dam. 
After this invigorating experience, we all got on the bus for a long ride to the Yichang train station, where we boarded a high speed bullet train. During this trip of approximately two hours, we entertained ourselves by making small talk, playing numerous card games and eating lunch in a packed container. 
We then arrived at Wuhan which isone of the largest cities in central China with a population in excess of 8 million. From the train station we took a bus directly to the airport, where we caught a 4:10 pm flight to Guiyang on China Southern Airlines. 
In just over an hour, we arrived at Guiyang, the capital of the Guizhou province, a city with a population of approximately 4.7 million. We met another tour guide for the next few days named Song. We then proceeded directly towards dinner which consisted of many local delicacies including glutinous rice. After dinner, we had our last trip of the day to our hotel for the night to have a peaceful nights rest for a 6:30 am start for the next day.
Josh O and James S

Day 5
Waking up and opening the blinds to our moving boat, we were thinking about what the day had in store for us. Walking into the buffet and smelling all the different foods was certainly the best wake up call of the whole trip. 
After we finished a hearty breakfast, everyone went to have some free time to relax and reflect on the journey that has already passed. Some of us went to the top deck to socialise and look at the magnificent views that the Yangtze River had to offer, while some of us lounged around in some of the meeting rooms reading a book. 
Mr Toohey invited us to the onboard cinema room to watch Jason Bourne and have some popcorn as a treat. Later, we had a group photo at the entrance of the Three Gorges. This was a perfect opportunity for all of us to take some awe-inspiring photographs of the beautiful scenery on either side of the boat. 
After our group photo was taken, we all had an amazing buffet lunch at the restaurant before disembarking to another boat to explore the Mini Three Gorges. Again, this was a remarkable sight and a great chance to learn more about the history of the Mini Three Gorges. 
4 hours later, we returned to our big cruise ship before taking another group photo in front of the Second Gorge. Afterwards, we had more free time to pack our bags prior to our departure tomorrow. Then we had our last buffet dinner onboard the Hua Xia Goddess. 
All of today’s activities helped us develop a greater understanding of the environmental effect that the Three Gorges and the Yangtze River has on the surrounding landscape, which closely links to our studies in the Environment Domain of our CUE Program. 
Signing off,
Cooper and Nick 

Waking up to the loud sound of the Chinese man speaking over the microphone speakers accompanied with some lovely soothing elevator classical music… We had a western breakfast this morning featuring lots of pancakes and scrambled eggs. The breakfast this morning was a buffet. All of us have really developed the Chinese way of eating, using chopsticks and we are eating at least 20kg of rice a day. Very nutritious!
Before getting off the boat to do our on shore excursion, we did a small Remembrance Day service which included a few students talking about world war 1 at 8am which would’ve been 11am in Melbourne. During this service Cooper said some really meaningful words about what happened, which moved students but also teachers to tears. He said
 “The significance of Remembrance Day to Australia now is to remember our grave, fallen heroes and to appreciate their sacrifice for our privileged way of life. Although we are on a foreign country, our home is Australia, and even when we are abroad, we must remember that without our ANZAC’s sacrifice, we may have never been able to travel in the first place. Luckily, the ANZAC’s sacrifice has been able to sustain our extremely privileged way of life. Today, we are truely proud to say that we are Australian. Thank you.”
After the minute of silence and a reflection, we had free time to stay on the boat and do whatever we wanted to for almost 3 hours. We then went into the theatre to watch the most exciting documentary ever… nobody fell asleep and we were all very interested in the Chinese documentary… after the sleep sesh we went down to eat some really yummy Chinese food for lunch and then made our way off the boat to do our shore excursion. We went to the Shibaozhai Pagoda and it was honestly beautiful. It was so interesting that there was just a mountain with a gorgeous red temple on one side. 
After the temple we went into all of the little markets and bought lots of little gifts for family and friends. We all practised a bit of bartering and we are quite talented… There were lots of little children roaming around and there were also older adults, but their weren’t many students our age. Personally, our favourite part of the day was when all the Chinese people were taking photos of us and not the surroundings because we must look like aliens. After the shopping we went back to the boat and ate dinner, then we had a lecture from our Chinese tour guid, Shua Fung (Stony). Now ready for a nice sleep; we have a 6:30am start in the morning. 
Juliette B and Millie D 

We woke to the sound of the traffic below and knew that it was our final day in Chengdu. We went down to level 2 in our hotel and sat down for a buffet breakfast. For breakfast there was a vast variety of food ranging from eggs and toast to chicken feet. After breakfast we went back to our room to pack for the train to Chongquing. After a quick tidy up we were out of our rooms by 8am and ready for the day ahead. 
Our trip to Zongbei Middle School was full of excitement and anticipation for both schools. We arrived at the school receiving a warm welcoming from the staff, including the headmaster of the school. The Zongbei Middle School has 5 campuses throughout the Sichuan province, housing over 5,000 children from years 7-9. We were first given a tour of the school from a selection of students and staff and saw first hand what life was like for a student in China. The differences were great, such as the number of students per classroom, but there were also many similarities between the two schools. The students were so eager to meet us and practice their English. 
After the tour we were taken to a room modelling the United Nations headquarters where the students discuss important world issues. After a formal presentation we entered into group conversation and debate over issues like American Presidential election and Brexit. Following this, we got to speak to students individually, highlighting the differences between our knowledge of foreign languages as well as our different opinions. 
Next, we joined the entire school in their daily physical exercises. Seeing and participating in this was incredible, everyone seemed to love keeping fit. Activities in the morning exercise included: push ups, squats, running and jumping. After the morning exercises we either went into a pottery class or a Kung Fu lesson. These were great fun as we got to work with the students more closely. 
After saying goodbye to the children and teachers we got on the bus and visited a Buddhist temple in Chengdu. It was very large and showcased the beauty of Chinese religion. Finally, we made our way to the train station where, for some of us, was the first time on a bullet train. It peaked at 300 km/h and by 6:30 we were in Chongquing. The city is one of the largest in China, with over 35 million people making it one of the most populated cities worldwide, yet, not many people have ever heard of Chongquing. On our hour long drive to the boat we saw the vastness of the city. As we approached the Yangtze River, we were greeted with a modern skyline filled with hundreds of skyscrapers, all lit up like Christmas trees. 
Finally, we boarded our cruise ship, where we were relieved to relax and enjoy our dinner before setting sail at about 9pm. Chongquing is so large that tomorrow morning we will still be in the boundaries of the city.
Daniel and Filip