Monday- 15/09/08Arrived in Shanghai in the early afternoon. No rain, but clouds and sunlight in sight. Our first stop upon arrival, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Had an early dinner on a stationary river cruise near the Bund. We took a walk down the Bund in the night, kites flooded the skies. We stood around as we watched people watching us. We got on to the river cruise as we sailed the Huangpu river and Shanghai’s famous skyline comes to full view here. Oriental Pearl TV Tower really is very beautiful in the night. The view was pretty legendary. There was also the view of the French buildings where all the banks are located; European style. Proceeded to check-in at our hotel after that. Tuesday- 16/09/08
We started our company visits. First up on our list- Shanghai LSC Management Consultants Co. Ltd. Secondly, SIIC Shanghai International Trade (Group) Co. Ltd. That was it for the day. After dinner, we ended the day with the acrobatic show at the Shanghai Centre Theatre. Awesome possum! The chinese are unbelievably good at this cultural field.
Wednesday- 17/09/08
Proceeded to visit Capitaland Management Consulting (Shanghai) right after breakfast. After lunch, we visited the Silk Factory. Got to view the manufacturing of silk and the life cycle of the silk worm. Wanted to get the silk shawl for momsie there but the one I liked only had the display piece left! Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre. Visited Cheng Huang Miao in the evening for shopping! Nice cultural preserved touristy area - it has supposedly the best xiao long bao in the area. Had quite a time there. Got little stuff for friends and family.
Thursday- 18/09/08
After breakfast, we proceeded to Shanghai University where we toured the campus. It was extremely huge! Students there cycle to/around school as it would take like 45 mins to get from one end of the campus to the other. Had lunch at a restaurant with the students from the university. The university ordered a generous 20 dishes for us! Yes, no kid! Ate while we mingled. Obviously, I was forced to speak in chinese. I didn't have a choice. After lunch, we visited our last company for the trip, OCBC China. In the evening, we went to Nanjing Street for shopping! There, they had the higher-end goods, most of it were overpriced. Friday- 19/09/08Our last day in Shanghai. We headed to Qi Pu Wholesale Centre, where I did most of my shopping. Bargaining was such a deal. They should have given us more time there! 3 hours freaking isn't enough! I really wanted to get some winter jackets and other stuff but we were chasing for time. We were supposed to board the Maglev (fastest train in the world at 300km/h, like woosh!) to get to the airport but circumstances didn't allow us to. Headed for our flight back to Singapore in the evening, where we arrived back here around 11pm. So task in Shanghai completed. I’ve gone there, walked quite a little, shopped moderately, lived among common people, dined with the non-local community (students from the university), traced a little history, spoke a relative amount of Chinese after a long long time. I don't pretend to have seen China, in barely a week, I know it's only a tiny fraction, what I've experienced. But its over, and I'm grateful for the time here, with good companionship, new faces. SHANGHAI-ed.