Visit to Stone Forest

We had a relaxing day. We went to the Stone Forest. It was an amazing place; we were overwhelmed by the beauty of nature. We saw a stone that had features of a beautiful lady holding a basket behind her back. Her name was Ashima, a legendary heroine who was persecuted by an evil warlord and died while waiting for her lover Ah Hei.

We were fascinated by the overall scenery as there were thousands of stones surrounding the place. The Stone Forest is a World Heritage Site. We walked a lot and even took a ride on the trams and still could not cover the entire place! The place was so enormous and it was an experience that we will never forget.

At the end of the day, we were treated to KFC for dinner! What a pleasant surprise, as we were all beginning to miss our food in Singapore!

Although it was a tiring day, it was a fun one. We will miss Yunnan as we will be leaving tomorrow!

Certificate Presentation Ceremony

Today, Professor Yuan Yan of the Yunnan University presented us with certificates in a 'graduation' ceremony. The setting was quite formal. Prof Yuan and Mr Koo, our representative from Marsiling Secondary School, each gave a speech. We felt very honoured by the occasion.

Click here to see our proud 'graduates'!

Green Energy - Biomass

Visit to Biomass Project Site

Today we went to a village on the outskirt of Kunming to visit a biomass project site. We received a lecture by a local professor, who explained to us how animal waste could become renewable energy sources for people living in rural areas in China. We were next taken into the village to see for ourselves how the system work! For many of us, it was the first time we saw farm houses. After tracking over some muddy grounds, we went into one where we were shown a large opening on the ground where animal waste materials were dumped in. We learnt that through some chemical reactions, the waste products would be turned into bio-fuel (mainly methane) to be used for cooking over the gas stove. However, it is quite troublesome and dangerous for human beings if they do not take safety precautions. We felt that the bio-fuel is one of the unique ways to conserve energy.

Tour of Yunnan University Campus

Green Energy in Action - Visit to Olive Farm

Carbon Offsetting Project

We planted a total of five trees today!! As trees are capable of offsetting the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, we are glad that we have contributed in a small way to improving the environment.

The farmers made digging and filling soil look so easy. We really struggled to handle the spades and changkols!





Green Energy for Community Betterment Project

A team of us helped build a solar-powered lighting system. We put up a solar PV panel that can power LED lamps and a water pump. We learnt that it is import to mount the solar PV panel at certain angle and direction in order to maximise the capturing of the sun's energy (Our panel was angled at 22 degrees and faced south; do you know the reasons why?). The system also has a back-up battery, timers, and various meters. The LED lamps were arranged in a symbol of a dove, which represents peace.

Art of Chinese Tea Ceremony

In the afternoon, we went to a Chinese tea cultural house to learn about the Art of Chinese Tea Ceremony. After an introduction by Ms Li Xiaojing on the basics of Chinese tea, we went around the tea house and attended various demonstrations of tea preparation by different tea ceremonial masters. These graceful ladies from different minority ethnic groups demonstrated their own unique styles of tea preparation, along with special tools and utensils. We were treated to six different styles of tea ceremony and we tasted all six kinds of tea. The highlight was when we participated in the tea making process. We took turn to step on top of stone moulds, which were used to compress freshly processed tea leaves into harden pieces for the market. All the tea pieces were personalised with our signatures!

The dinner was nice and sumptuous and we ate a lot after an eventful day. After dinner, we made our daily reflections. Till tomorrow, bye!