Shanghai immediately demonstrated a very different flavour than that of the one Beijing left with us. For one, it was commercial and less historical/political with no soldiers visible on the streets, and it was densely populated. There were roughly the same amount of people in the city as Beijing encompassed in a land mass that was roughly 1/4th the size. The buildings were predictably taller and the city felt busier, despite having 1/8th the cars on the road.
Picture: Shanghai Skyline
The skyline in Shanghai is mighty impressive. It’s dotted with large financial institutions, and future-like architecture that almost puts New York to shame. Almost all the development is new (within the last 15 years). In the downtown area, the sights of the 101 stories World Financial Centre (2nd tallest in the world) and the 87 stories Grand Hyatt steal the show and give a good representation of what the future of Shanghai’s skyline will look like. Already, construction has started next door on Asia’s tallest building. The development scene is incredible. Some estimate that 30% of the world’s cranes are in Shanghai, with another 30% in Dubai.
Picture: Group shot in front of the Shanghai skyline
Shanghai provided an opportunity for us to meet with a number of Ivey alumni, visit a number of plants, and really get a feel for what it’s like to conduct business in China. We had a opportunity to visit Bao Steel, the #2 steel company in the world. Visiting the plant, or should I say city, was eye-opening to say the least. We had an opportunity to witness how steel is manufactured pretty much end to end. We toured a building that was roughly 500 metres in length. It was an assembly line with some of the biggest machines that I had ever seen. These machines were pounding the molten steel, shaping it, smoothing it, and cooling it with water. The molten steel glowed bright orange and one after another a new beam of molten steel would zip down the assembly line giving off strong heat. It almost felt as if you were in a sauna for a split second as the beam zipped by. Visiting the plant was something like experiencing the Discovery Channel in reality. One could almost sense that China’s economic growth was hugely dependant on this plant in order to build its skyscrapers, infrastructure, and manufacturing capabilities. We also had an opportunity to get a presentation from an executive at the company that spoke in Mandarin and had a translator covert to English. I must say that the translator did a great job and the presentation was actually quite effective despite the language barriers.
Picture: Bao Steel presentation
Shanghai also provided us with an opportunity to visit Shanghai General Motors, and take a day trip to a Suzhou. Shanghai General Motors is a 50-50 joint venture between GM and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation. We had an opportunity to visit the assembly line and witness how a car is manufactured end to end. What surprised me the most in China was how popular the Buick is, and I guess if there’s a bright spot in GM it is that they have a stronghold in China through this joint venture. We also got to eat with the local automotive assembly line workers to get a real taste of work life in the factory. I must say that the meal was delicious!
Picture: Visit to the Shanghai GM assembly line
Visiting Suzhou (about two hours outside of Shanghai) was one of the highlights of the whole trip. We visited a new master-planned high-tech community (as previously described in part 1 of the blog entries) where 6m people will call home. We visited a museum that demonstrated the future plans for this master-planned city and what it will look like. I think we were all blown away by the scale and dream of it. They seemed to be taking the best of all the world’s cities and implementing them into these new futuristic cities. For example, this new city will soon have a replica of the London Eye (Ferris Wheel), and the latest in skyscraper architecture with a number of 80+ stories building dotting a yet to be constructed skyline. Already, dozens of high-tech multinationals call this futuristic city home. On the flip side, we visited the historical side of Suzhou where we rode a boat through a canal that snaked through the village. It was our first taste of what rural China was like. One could see the poverty, and the lack of essential services. I must say though that despite some of the visible poverty, the historical Suzhou and the canal were magnificent. I think that the boat ride will be the part of the trip that I will most remember. It was very surreal, calming, cultural, and beautiful.
Picture/Video: Riding the canal through historical Suzhou
One afternoon, the class hit a popular market where we had another opportunity to barter and buy some souvenirs. The market was lively and came complete with Starbucks, which was a friendly and welcome surprise. Other highlights included dining with Ivey alumni, hearing a presentation from the author of a book on China's Supertrends, and riding the Magnetic Levitation Train (Maglev train). The author of the China Supertrends book, Jason Inch, was very insightful and provided a unique perspective on what the future China will look like, and the role that they will play on the world stage (probably the best presentation on the trip). The Maglev runs from near downtown Shanghai to the international airport. There are only two such trains in the world (the other in Germany). The train topped out at 301 km/hr (see video below). What surprised me was that it was not nearly as smooth as I thought it would be for a train that has no wheels and levitates off the ground on magnets? There was a distinct buzzing sound as the train accelerated and it was not nearly as impressive as the TGV in France.
Video: Riding the Maglev Train in Shanghai
1 comment:
Have you tried dumplings and roast ducks? They are the famous and traditional Beijing dieshes. And also bird's nest soup? Its a delicacy in China.
Enjoy your days~~~
Gillion
www.geocities.jp/hongkong_bird_nest/index_e.htm
gillionbb.brown@gmail.com
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