The day started by us taking a big group photo while waiting for the bus to arrive. Our industrial visit today was to Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Company Ltd. (:

A usual sight seen in both Singapore and China especially during peak hours. This is what happens when the population owns too many cars. Hahaha. 

I notice that in Singapore, the number of Singaporeans owning a weekend car is increasing. I think maybe it is due to the high cost of purchasing a car and also the road tax. I doubt there is any such thing here in China. Some cars don't even have a car plate number! Hahaha.

The slow traffic was actually caused by a small accident between a car and a van. Here in China, people do drive recklessly on the road and most of the time, they do not give signals when they are entering a lane. That actually causes the vehicle on that lane to have emergency break and sometimes it can be really scary. 

However, I have never seen an accident before other than this in China. I think the drivers here are very skillful and it is a normal thing for them to enter lanes without signalling. They also don't really honk at other vehicles. They only honk at people when they are trying to squeeze through a small lane with their motorbikes! Hahaha.

By the time we knew it, we've reached YOFC! (:

Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable is the second largest company in the world and the largest in China that produces optical fibres. China is indeed well-known to the world. (:

A good company needs to have a good quality management system. (:

These are the glass cylinders after they have went through the processes at each stage. 

This is the glass cylinder which will actually be heated at 2000 degrees celsius to make it thinner and according to the requirements. The thickness is as thin as one strand of our hair! Imagine that thickness being rolled to around 200km. (:

The staff there have to wear a special suit so as to prevent contamination of the optical fibres from the dust that may be present in the environment.

Finally, the optical fibres! (:

Colourful ones for identification purposes. (:

Optical fibres actually conduct light signals over long distances. They are long and thin strands of very pure glass. The light is able to travel through the fibre because of the principle known as total internal reflection. That is how we are able to hear what the other person is saying on the other line of the phone as well as information that we are able to receive from the internet. (:

Things that man created always makes wonders. (:

Us!

Group photo. (:

MDE group photo. (:

Comparing steel manufacturing and optical fibres, I think Singapore would most likely go into the optical fibres industry if compared between the two. One of the factors is because of the space, which steel manufacturing would not be able to operate without a large area. Considering a small country like Singapore, it is quite impossible to have that. Hahaha. Also, Singaporeans would prefer working in a high technology environment as compared to that of a steel industry. 

Who knows, maybe Singapore will be the third largest country manufacturing optical fibres. (:

After the industrial visit, most of the MDE students went to Wal-Mart to have our lunch and shop around. Xinhui, Nadiyah and I went together, this time round without Weiguang because he is going for homestay at Joey's place.

On our way back, we actually took a double decker bus! My first time! Hahaha.

As you can see, the pathway is a little small and squeezy but we are able to pass through because we are skinny enough! Hahaha.

The seats are not so comfortable though. It doesn't have any cushion but that won't matter. As long as we can have a seat, we are more than happy. (:

The bus system here is such that when you want to alight at a particular stop, you can just alight without having to press any doorbells. This is because the bus will actually stop at every bus stops and wait for awhile for any passengers to alight. Therefore, if the bus is packed with many people, you really have to squeeze your way through fast so that the doors won't close when you are about to alight. If not, you just have to shout across to the bus driver to open the door for you. A little embarrassing? Well, not to them though. (:

For dinner, we brought our food over to Mr Loh's apartment because some of them were having a trial session for next week's get together session. The cooks for the night were Xiang Yu, Stephanie, Mei Yun and Seok Hui. (:

Seok Hui cooking the supposedly-to-be omelette. (:

The food that they cooked. It may look plain but I think it tastes nice. (:

Xinhui drooling over the food on the table and thinking when she can start eating them. Hahaha.

City Tour tomorrow! (: