Day 6 - Greenwood Village

Morning Walk in Lu Lin Shan (7 a.m.)
The cool morning breeze on the summit was breathtaking. I can't believe the freshness of the air. Many trees and low air pollution levels made it a good way to start the day. Fresh oxygenated air from the natural green is healthy for the body, and refreshes the mind. Unlike Singapore, the dense population contributed to bad air quality due to air pollution from motor vehicles, factories, and power stations.

The past five days of unhealthy food (deep-fried, oily, barbecued, salty) has got to be burned off. Therefore, my friend and I decided to keep our body fit and took a morning jog. During the morning jog, we came across many interesting discoveries!


Freshly Picked Corns
Across the bridge to the other side of the river were many self-built homes by the farmers. This lady farmer hand-picked corns off the stalk of the plant from her yard and laid them in an open area for them to ripen. This is her livelihood, as her only source of income comes from the harvest of the corns.


Cucumber Plant
Many young cucumbers are attached to their parent plant and are not ready for consumption yet. There are approximately three cucumbers to each plant, as plenty of sunlight are required to be absorbed by the leaves for "food" for the cucumber to grow.


Cable Television
Don't be surprised! Even farmers in rural areas have television programs too! They create their own satellite dish to receive television signals. In Singapore, television coverage is readily available by pressing a single dial. Television services such as Singapore Cable Vision (SCV) has made it so advanced for us. We can view video footage and programs from all around the world, including live


Peace Valley
A smooth-flowing stream provide essentials for nearby villages. Farmers use this stream as irrigation for their crops, washing clothes, and cooking or consumption. As this steam is shared by many villages downstream, it is only wise for them to be considerate and not pollute their only source of survival.


Precious Water
I sneaked behind for a close-up photograph of a villager collecting water for household usage. At least 60 years of age, this elderly man is still spending his days carrying pails of water. In Singapore, many people do not appreciate the fact that portable water readily flows out from their taps.

I am a victim of my own success. I confess that I used to leave the shower running even when shampooing, soaping, or idling. After viewing the extent of how this elderly villager attain water beyond my very eyes, I started to appreciate what our Singapore government has done for our household and begin using water sparingly.


Refreshing Morning Dew!


Rice Field
Large plots of land are used for agricultural activities. One of which is rice cropping as rice is one of China's staple food.

Greenwood Village
Above the arrows is the route we took to reach Greenwood Village. The road up is very steep and requires a bus with powerful engines, therefore, we were transferred from our tour bus to another smaller bus. The climb cannot be too steep, thus they constructed the road in a circular manner around the various hills.



Walk Up for Bus Transfer


Elite Knights
Standing around us are many statue warriors who resembles the ancient China in defending their position during the war. They are the supreme fighters who give their lives to the country.


Bow & Arrow
I was equipped with an ancient weapon used for distant attacks. This is a longbow made from wood, probably simply cut from saplings and strung with animal gut. And in the olden days, arrows were mainly made from wood as it is cheap to manufacture.



Catapult
This large wooden structure is a disastrous weapon of devastating effect. Its long end is attached with ammunition (boulder, fire ball, etc..) and pulled down by high tension ropes. Releasing of the ropes will result in the ammunition hurling through the skies of several hundred meters.



Watch Tower
Standing 10-meters above the hills is a watch tower built for spotting enemies in the horizon. This is one of the main line of information which is relayed to the troops if there is an incoming attack.

REFLECTIONS

It is advisable to exercise daily to work out the body muscles and keep the body in a healthy state. A more relaxed form is to take a morning stroll and savor the fresh morning air as it keeps the mind sharp for the day. I have seen the hard work poor farmers have put in to harvest and sell their crops for a living. I learn to be grateful for what I have and use resources sparingly, and also teach others to conserve when possible. China has a very large land area used for agricultural purposes, and most packaged foods in the market (rice sacks, potatoes, corns, lotus, etc..) are prepared by hard work and sweat.

Being up in Greenwood Village teaches me the history of how China used to fend their enemies off the hills to maintain position, and the weapons and armories used in the battle. It is important even for a small country like Singapore to have military defense, and display our weapon capabilities. This is to protect us from invasion by other countries. In addition, the display of weapons technology will instill fear to would-be attackers and make them think twice before making an invasion. What is more amazing is how mankind has evolved from using bow and arrows to guided missiles. Technology has advanced dramatically during the past few centuries. Therefore, it is always important for me to improve myself constantly to be ahead and to be the best.


If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.
-Lord Chesterfield