We had our local tour guide bring us to 汉口 today for a tour of the other side of Wuhan. Wuhan is being divided into 3 parts being 汉口， 汉阳 and 武昌 which is the part we are in. Being 10 times larger than Singapore, the travelling time here can be very long at times. We have to get up early at 7am to prepare for our set off at 8am as the journey there will take at least 90 minutes. Our chartered bus cost all of us 800 yuan so it is about 36 bucks for each of us. I find that it is quite worth it as it will take at least 60 yuan if we take a cab instead.

We finally reached a theme park in 汉口 known as 中山公园. According to the tour guide, it is the largest theme park in Wuhan but the facilities are just so-so. Some of them decided to take the roller coaster which is named as 三环过山车 which means “3 Loop Coaster”. From what I see, some parts are very rusty and there are funny noises coming from the coaster when it is moving. I decided not to take it for safety reasons but about 11 of them went up. I was actually praying for them when they went up as I had a very uneasy feeling. Fortunately, all of them alighted safely and we went on to the next ride.


After some rides, we saw the Pirate Ship which made me want to go on it. It is scary here as it will go nearly vertical at its peak. It feels totally great experience near 0g or even negative g forces as it will be a very rare chance to experience it. All of us went for the mirror maze which was really rubbish as it is poorly designed. However, the ticket price was 10 yuan and there was a middle aged lady outside the maze giving us discounts for the ticket if we were to go in together. We managed to haggle the price from 10 yuan to 5 yuan in the end. However, I noticed that the money we gave went into their own pockets. I guess this is what you call “extra income” for them as they do not have the system whereby the tickets have to be inserted into a machine. This is something that will not happen in Singapore as corruption is strictly against the law.

Our next destination was 江汉路 which is a pedestrian street (步行街). Since it will take a very long walk, we decided to take the local 轻轨列车 (Light Rail Transit) for a single stop. It is sort of like our MRT in Singapore, just a different name. A single stop cost us 1.5 yuan. Their ticket here is also interesting as it is in a token form like what you see in an arcade. You have to scan the token before entering and the gate will open for you to enter. When exiting, just drop the token into the token slot and the gate will open for you to alight! However, there is a strange stench in the train that most of us could not stand. It smells like some vomit smell or something but I do not really remember.


Had our lunch at 真功夫 which is a restaurant that serves Chinese food in a fast food restaurant style. You queue up to buy the food and they serve you a set meal. Their price is quite reasonable and consists of rice, soup, vegetables and the main dish you ordered. A drink can also be added at a small price. Right after lunch, our shopping spree begins! There are lots of sports brand around like Adidas, Nike, Kappa and many more China brand like Peak and Anta. Bought a new bag from Nike which looks very cool with a chiller compartment where you can put your cold and hot drinks and an attached shoe bag to put your sports shoes. Cost 400 yuan which I guess is a reasonable price as you cannot find it in Singapore.

Another thing I bought today is a new wallet since so long as my wallet has worn and tore and all the coins have been dropping out. Finally in the evening, we walked to the ferry terminal to take the ferry back to 武昌 as it is expected to have major traffic congestion if we were to cross the Yangtze River via the bridge. The ferry can fetch up to 1000 people at a time and the trip takes 15 minutes. The boarding was very fast which made me shocked. Imagine hundreds of people crowding around a gate which is just 3 metres wide and people just dash in when the gate opens. This is how the Chinese spend their everyday life. I guess the people here are more “kiasu” than we are?

After disembarking from the ferry, the tour guide brought us to a food street whereby they sell lots of local fares. However, I did not want to eat the roadside stalls as they were too oily so I went to KFC with Adrian and Erwin. Although it’s KFC, I tried not to order any fried stuffs to minimize the oil and fat that I will be taking in.


Boarded the bus back to school and I was watching videos on my iPod along the way. Felt very nauseous just after 20 minutes and I guess it is due to motion sickness. Now I have discovered my problem. I cannot watch shows on a small device in a dark moving place. Had an early night today.

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Corruption is still a major problem in China. We can see that lots of places have corruption going on. I guess this is because of poverty in China and most people are earning just enough to feed themselves so they have to find ways to earn extra income. Public transport is very cheap in China but the quality of their transport is really low. I guess this is what the Chinese saying goes, ”一分钱， 一分货”. Although we pay more in Singapore, we get high quality public transport services. I have seen some buses with broken plastic seats in China but we rarely see any broken seats in Singapore buses. Furthermore, the buses here only has plastic seats without any cushion whereas we have cushions in our buses to ensure the comfort of the passengers.