China Study Tour 2006 - Daily Updates

Day 9 Shanghai

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Alexandra Winslow '09

We started Saturday in Shanghai with breakfast and a special guest: my uncle, Robert Graham, Vice President of Development in Taiwan and North China for Reebok. Rob has lived in Asia for two decades, and shared his experiences as a businessman, traveler, and expatriate with us. Currently splitting his time between China and Taiwan, he has resided all over Asia, including South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand. Over the hotel breakfast (a welcome mix of Chinese breakfast staples and some more familiar Western items) we discussed the ins and outs of international business, including celebrity endorsements, the flourishing knock-off market, and technical aspects of setting up factories abroad. Rob provided the group with great insights into the benefits of overseas production, especially for the men and women in rural areas without an abundance of employment opportunities. He informed us about the painstaking precautions taken for the welfare of such workers, as well as the perks like steady wages, education opportunities, and regular healthcare.

We spent the rest of the morning in an area of Shanghai called the French Concession, a neighborhood that has traditionally housed European expatriates throughout the last hundred years. The architecture was obviously influenced by Spanish and French styles, and one street in particular is a perfect replica of a portion of Paris. First, we visited the Propaganda Art Centre, which owns the most extensive collection of Communist propaganda posters in the world. Hundreds of pieces of art work, some mass-produced, some handmade, were on display, chronicling roughly four decades of Communist influence or rule. The posters played an integral part in educating the public on the proper conduct for and viewpoints of the average Communist citizen. Repeatedly, Westerners, especially Americans, were demonized, and Chairman Mao was portrayed with godlike iconography. It was a very insightful glimpse into the Red Guard’s political manipulation. Afterwards, we visited another museum, dedicated to the founding of the Communist movement in China. Its displays included original letters and pamphlets crafted by the student-instigators, photographs of members and events, and a full-scale replica of an important backroom meeting, complete with wax figures.

In the late afternoon, we were given time to ourselves, and while most of our party napped back at the hotel, Nicole, Christina N., Sally and I braved the rain and took a taxi back to the Yu Gardens. We shopped in the marketplace for a few hours, buying some final Shanghai mementos and gifts for family and friends. On our return trip, we haphazardly discovered just how hard it is to hail a cab in Shanghai in the pouring rain. After a few too many blocks of walking, we finally got a taxi and headed back to the hotel to dry off before our final dinner in China.

That night Dave, Holy Cross Class of 2001, treated us to one of his favorite restaurants. It was Korean barbeque style, so we sat on cushions around a table with two built-in hibachi grills in the center. The meal consisted of platter after platter of bite-sized raw vegetables and meat, all of which we grilled ourselves. Chris and Professor He took primary control of the tongs, serving up the mushrooms, onions, cuts of beef, and cow’s tongue (perhaps one of the most unusual selections on the trip). We all had a wonderful time trying the smorgasbord of grilled food, and thoroughly enjoyed our last dinner in China.

To continue the evening’s festivities, we headed to a karaoke bar after dinner. The pastime is especially popular in Asia, and is a different experience from karaoke in the US. The ‘bar’ actually consisted of dozens of private rooms, with several microphones, a large video display for the lyrics, and a comprehensive library of Chinese and American songs. Everyone took a turn, singing selections from Frank Sinatra to the Bee Gees to Christina Aguilera. It was certainly a lively, memorable end to our trip!