Friendship Caravan 2008

Friendship Caravan 2008
By Cdt. Sct. Stephanie Anne P. Tan


The Friendship Caravan 2008 took off on a good start with a Welcoming Dinner in Xiamen wherein the participants got to know each other with an icebreaker by the name of Human Bingo. We discovered that aside from us, 3 girls from the Philippines, there were also 3 Girl Guides from Malaysia, lots of Girl Guides from Hong Kong and also boys and girls who were a part of the China Juvenile Development Service Center. After the dinner, we all went to the beach and took part in a youth festival or fire party. The festival portrayed the different talents of Chinese people and enthusiasm and excitement for the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympics can really be felt in the air.



July 21, 2008. The real caravan started. After breakfast, we immediately went to the port and rode a ferry that brought us to the renowned Gulangyu Island. We learned that Gulangyu is famous for its pianos since before only rich people can afford pianos but now over 600 hundred pianos can be found inside the island. We went to a piano museum and saw pianos of different styles and sizes. The island is also well-known for its variety of architecture. Over 13 embassies of different countries can be found there so it also has varying styles and designs. We also visited the Gulangyu Aviary which housed a variety of birds such as peacocks, storks, cockatoos, flamingoes and many other birds. We also rode a cable car to reach the peak of Gulangyu Island. It was named Sunlight Rock. The trek to the top was extremely tiring especially since it was also very hot. But the view at the top was worth it. But of course, we also used the time as we walk to get to know some of the other participants better. We compared our different organizations. I also discovered that while girls from Hong Kong are quite good in speaking English, most of the Chinese girls don’t understand English at all.



July 22,2008. On this day, we were required to wear our official uniforms. It was very fun watching us girls wear our different uniforms. I’ve observed that they seem to like our Cadet uniforms so much. They Hong Kong Girl guides also looked smart in their uniforms, brown for Brownies and blue for the girl guides. On this day, we went to Quanzhou and visited the Quanzhou Maritime Museum. It was said that this is the only museum in China that is dedicated to the history of Chinese overseas exploration. We also saw the religious sculptures and the folk culture of the seaside in the museum. Our next stop was the Fujian-Taiwan Kinship Musuem. This museum exhibits the relationship of Fujian and Taiwan and the similarities and differences of their culture. We saw lots of life-sized statues depicting the lifestyle of the people. Our last stop for the day was Kaiyuan Temple. We saw people there who were praying to very big statues of Buddha. We learned that the statues were not made of pure gold since it would be prone to stealing. Since it was our first time there, we made a wish because they said it could come true.
July 23, 2008. For most of the morning, we rode on the bus and we arrived at Longyan just in time for lunch. The bus ride was entertaining at the start since the girls took turns in teaching a song or coming up with ice breakers. But since the trip was so long, most of us soon slept away the trip. After lunch, our destination was the Gutian Meeting Memorial Hall. We toured the place which is already very old. We cans see the belief of Chinese people in feng shui in their architecture.

July 24,2008 We had another long bus ride going to Yongding to see the Earth Tower of Hakkas. We were amazed by the buildings made of earth which was shaped like a hat, rounded at the middle and with two rectangular structures at the side. The structure of the building was designed so that it is impenetrable and if it is very hot outside, the temperature inside is cold and vice versa. These round buildings are owned by very rich people and it seems that a community can live inside. Another earth building that we visited is shaped like a tiger, just like in feng shui.

July 25, 2008. We visited the TenFu Tea Museum. There, we witnessed how tea is being made and packaged. It was my first time to see tea trees. We also watched a Korean and Chinese tea ceremony and we were able to taste the tea that they prepared. Our lunch was exquisitely prepared with all the dishes made with tea as part of the ingredients. After lunch, we went to a local Chinese school. We displayed our various paraphernalia about the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. We also taught the students from that school how to make bracelets from just tying cords. It was a tiring but fun experience and we run out of cords. After which, we had a program wherein the different participants rendered a number. We, the delegates from the Philippines, danced the Pandanggo sa Ilaw complete with candles and handkerchiefs for exhibition. It was enjoyable seeing the participants perform different numbers. I’ve noticed that the Chinese participants love to perform speech choirs, monologues and such. The Hong Kong girl guides presented a very touching song entitled Proud of You.

July 26,2008. We went back to Xiamen and visited the Xiamen Olympic Museum which is newly built. In there, we learned the history of the Olympics. We also learned that the Beijing 2008 Olympics mascots namely Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingyin and Nini form the words “Beijing huan ying ni” which means Beijing welcomes you. That night, we had our farewell dinner and representatives from the different groups and delegates gave a short message or insights on what they have learned from the caravan. The Chairman Commissioner also gave her message and told us that we should not cry for it is not the end but rather the beginning of wonderful friendships.


July 27,2008. We went our separate ways but of course, we exchanged contact information so that we can continue our friendships despite the distance that will separate us.

As a whole, the Friendship Caravan 2008 was very educational and fun at the same time. It gave us a chance to know girls from other countries. We were also able to know and learn the culture of the Chinese. There are a few things that I’ve learned from the Caravan that I think could be applied to our own system. One example is the program during the bus rides. I think that we should also apply this during our own tours and events since it helps build team spirit and avoids boredom during long trips. I was also able to appreciate the fact that the delegates for the Friendship Caravan were not only Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. There were also students and teachers from local schools and children from the Red Cross. I hope that I could again take part in a Friendship Caravan such as this wherein we are able to make new friends and widen our horizons.