Shanghai, Day 35

Since our descent on Shanghai - and a jarring transition from the low-key, down-to-earth lifestyle of Nanjing - the most consistent feeling among our group continues to be "overwhelmed." A city of 20 million, and only one among +100 Chinese cities over 1 million compared to the US' 10 such cities, Shanghai - from but a passing glance - begins to rival New York. With the luxurious Graceland hotel as our base of operations and a long day's rest from the night before, today was a contrast to our precious time off. With a day starting at 8 AM, we returned to contrasting Chinese and Western business through two talks, one from a German entrepreneur and the other a Chinese national. The usual cliches came up: a historical focus on practical excellence over creative freethinking, the importance of guanxi, and the Chinese language as key to unlocking the rest of China's secrets. Unique, however, were the personal insights offered by our German host. Among them, he stressed giving the Chinese specific directions: the difference between having a machine fixed and broken further can be as small a mistake as a vague command, but be specific yet non-confrontational with your needs and the Chinese will astound you.
Such was the case at GM Shanghai - touring the factory floor was like stepping into a bleak sort of future, with machines increasingly more preset than humans. Still, workers blazed through the assembly line as an example of Chinese efficiency and cars were being churned out with not just speed but precision. Still, at $10,000 a car, some corners were cut - these fine-looking autos don't meet Western environmental regulations, and as authentic as they look, are not purchasable Stateside, much less street legal.
While the true exploration of industry was a welcome perspective, the day peaked at our arrival at the Pudong side of Shanghai from our home in the east side. The skyscrapers claw at the heavens, truly, here more so than anywhere else. More accurately, they "bottle open" " the heavens - the city's premiere landmark (until the construction is finished on the next tallest building, a swirling spire to be the world's second tallest construct) is the World Financial Center, +90 floors peaking at an observation deck looking much like an homage to China's lack of alcohol regulation. Further speakers contextualized Shanghai's big - and indeed politically forced - boom, and more than that, pointed us towards the future. The whole of modern Shanghai was constructed in the last 20 years, primarily through city planning that amounted to government coercion of financial institutions in forcing banks to open Pudong offices and creating a central park at the focal point. Yet for its possibly shady inception, Shanghai looks beautiful by nightfall. The modern Pudong financial world center across the historic European-inspired colonial era Bund district on the Puxi shore are like no other place in the world. However, with Shanghai approaching sleek but anonymous modernity at the cost of less practical historic beauty, the question remains: if 20 years created this Shanghai, what will the next 20 bring?

- Michael G.