On our free day in the city, one of the things Evan, Michael, Gabe, and I checked out was the China Pavilion, which was built for 2010 World Expo, which Shanghai hosted. The Pavilion was incredible to look at – the closer I got to it, the smaller I felt. Inside, there was a lot of artwork covering different times in Shanghai’s history:

I did a quick Google Search on the China Pavilion, and (I know Wikipedia is a bad source, but bear with me here) learned that it was only after the World Expo that the China Pavilion was turned into an art gallery – before, it “showcased China’s civilisation and modern achievements by combining traditional and modern elements in its architecture, landscaping and exhibits” (Wikipedia). I think the art galleries did a pretty good job at capturing different events in Shanghai’s history, and it was smart of those in charge to actually do something useful with the gorgeous building.

On the last “official” day of our stay in China, we got to meet with the CEO of Eastday’s Cultural Industry. Prior to visiting the company – whose cultural branch essentially involves online shopping, but with real, in-person stores substitution a virtual shopping cart – I had never heard of such a concept.

I really like the idea of having an online store essentially be like a “web brochure,” if you will. I think having to go into a real store adds charm, value, and knowledge to the whole shopping experience, and makes people better realize the true value of money. With online shopping, it’s perhaps too easy to get click-heavy, and keep buying things you 1) usually do not need, and/or 2) usually do not know the true quality/state of.

Furthermore, the CEO mentioned that before, he had worked as a journalist for Eastday’s media branch. The most inspirational thing I listened to during this week-long experience was when the CEO talked about how he, no longer in the media industry directly, went to North Korea, and helped North Korean artists sell their art on an Eastday website. He was so nice, he gave us copies of the magazines with photographs of the paintings! To me, that really captured the spirit of journalism – like the CEO said, a journalist helps people get their story out; people who otherwise can’t get their stories out on their own.

Today we had our final two lectures and at this point I felt it very surprising how quickly we’ve journeyed through the week to many places across central Shanghai and have gained a fair amount of information on this great city in such a short time.

Our first of two lectures came from a gentleman who was once a journalist but ventured in to a more business focused working career with a company called Eastday. This formally primarily online company has now adapted to several offline opportunities. One of the biggest things that I took from our time touring the office and speaking with the executive was how much they have expanded and diversified from their initial stages just as an online news station. While they have grown their company involvements to several other avenues of retail and media, he mentioned that they are focused on being a strong company before they become a very big company. Many of us in the lab all felt that this was one of favorite lectures primarily due to how welcoming and charismatic the executive was.

Our second lecture of the day and final one of the trip was from a PhD student who was finishing up here thesis specifically in the Muslim communities of Shanghai. While this lecture was obviously to further Hira’s understanding of her research topic, I too gained some insightful information about the way religion is handled in the secular environment that is Shanghai. It caught me by surprise that there were as many as 20 mosques in the city about a half a century ago and how it that number has been reduced to around 8 or so remaining (if I remember correctly). Another surprising finding was that while it is against the law to spread any type of religion within the city, the government didn’t outright and dismiss the worship places largely due to how long they had been in existence. As a Christian, I was curious as to how many churches or chapels may exist in a similar circumstance like the remaining mosques do? It was also great that we are able to actual visit one of the existing mosques on our way to the Water Town soon after the lecture.

As just mentioned, we took a trip down to what is called the “Water Town” in the evening. I enjoyed seeing the very authentic market places which were constructed in a series of narrow streets similar to that at Tianzifang. I bought a number of very cheap but great souvenirs here. We also had the pleasure of spending time with Melissa’s family who live in Taiwan and came to see Melissa because it was her birthday today.

After enjoying another great dinner in the town, we headed back to the central part of city were we ended the day with some memorable karaoke! It was a fun way to end a great day.

As we approach the end of the week, I am constantly in the process of putting a conscious effort to embrace every aspect of the sites we are getting to see, the people we are meeting, and the experiences we are having all together.

With this in mind, we headed out to our first lecture at the office of a textile technology company called Shanghai Jarros New Material co. that embraced a very different philosophy than expected. Once we arrived, the first thing that we were taken to was a shrine dedicated to honor Buddha. The shrine was available to those of the company to send up prayers to Buddha if they chose to. This was very congruent with the principles they held as a company, of which I found the most intriguing to learn. They held a company motto that while isn’t explicitly geared to emphasize on a technical aspiration of the company, it was to “be appreciative and return what you receive,” which gives much direction as to how they treat their customers, employees, and the overall quality of work they produce. They also emphasized a list of 10 principles for everyone that works for them, which are: 1. Respect everyone; 2.Praise good deeds; 3. Correct your mistakes; 4.Be happy for someone else, enjoy other’s success; 5. Help others reach their goals; 6. Spread Good teaching to others; 7. Follow the teaching; 8. (Somehow I I missed it…); 9. Respect others wishes; 10. Give back with thanks to everyone. They are the only company within their industry that has emphasis on principles such as these. While they are derived from the philosophies of Buddhism, the employees don’t have to be practicing the religion themselves.

I believe that a major reason this company has reached the prominent level in the textile production industry as the largest company in the country for producing their certain textile, is partly due to their insightful and mindful company philosophy and approach. The executive of the company that we spoke with also gave us a very insightful note that I really connected with. He mentioned that “everything is causal, or conditioned to exist. Everything was empty, but various conditions create things to happen. Emptiness means there is the opportunity for something to happen.” I felt this went very well with the attitude that I mentioned at the beginning of the post that I have be actively working to maintain. This attitude being that everyone on this trip has been brought here to this city to accomplish a specific, treasured goal. While it may not be clear in itself, I think it is most easily realized once you take heed of every circumstance that is placed in front of you.

To begin our fifth day in Shanghai, we used our usual method of travel, that being the subway, to enjoy the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. Of the urban exhibits featured, the one that had me in awe, I’m sure like most, was the small scale model of the central Pudong district of Shanghai. In addition to the great detail that was illustrated, their projections urban development projections to the year 2020 was inspiring to see.

We then headed to the other Jiao Tong University campus which I believe is located further southeast of the campus that we are staying at. This lecture specifically pertained to me and my research topic because it specifically addressed the environment and was given by an associate professor in the university’s environmental sciences and engineering department. This was one of the most well-prepared lectures and was filled with great content that I will most likely use within my research. Shortly after we had the dean of humanities of the university come and speak to us about Jiao Tong University itself. A point of emphasis for the university that he mentioned was that of creativity. Because the university was founded in order to better compete against the Japanese in technological innovations, there exists a very narrow, goal-oriented approach. Thus encouraging and fostering creative innovation is he mentioned will get them to the level of success that they are striving for.

From the talk about the Jiao Ting University system I also gained a new appreciation for Rice and the liberal education that students are able to acquire. Our motto of unconventional wisdom communicates everything about the way of thinking that is inspired to have due to the established understanding of how impactful it is in any endeavor one ends up exploring.

Every morning I have been able to get up and have a work out and today was the same except that I went to a gym with Michael down the road from the university called “Will’s.” Because the traditional Chinese person isn’t exactly known for going to work out facilities like this, I found it was interesting to see this adaptation to accommodate “外国人” like myself.

Today was filled with two sessions regarding public media. The first lecture was with the general manager and editor of the Global Times and the second lecture was with a two associates from the International Channel of Shanghai. I was interested to hear the information and experiences they had to share because of the governmental environment and my preconceived understanding of its influence on the general public environment. The information that I found the most significant to my particular research topic was that shared about how the serious environmental issues have impacted the public media and when reports that focused on the environment began to surface. The common answer that was communicated was that in the past 4-6 years there has been an increasing amount of coverage on environmental issues. This shift is in part due to arising health consequences of citizens, a large food scandal at the end of 2008, and even the 2009 economic downturn which subsequently influenced the of the most pressing issues of China as a whole to be reported and focused on.

The day ended with a quick visit to the French Concessions called Xintiandi. The distinct European architecture was intriguing to see within Shanghai and seeing this allowed for a visual image to be connected with the history that we had learned of the international influence and presence within the city.

Friday was a fantastic, fun, and full day!  We started off the morning with a visit to Eastday Company, which was an incredibly eye-opening experience.  I don’t think that there is any American company that even comes close to Eastday in terms of market penetration – they actually had a foot in every sort of business imaginable.  It was like Amazon but so, so much more – the guy that showed us around, for example, was in charge of the art and culture side of Eastday.  He gave us a tour of the company’s building and then chatted with us at a nearby tea house/art museum (also owned by the company).  Afterwards, he treated us to a huge lunch – in the middle of eating he found out that it was my birthday, and then he proceeded to have one of his henchmen purchase a birthday cake and bring it to the restaurant for us to enjoy after eating.  He was a very impressive man that was part of an even more impressive company, so it was altogether a very interesting visit – and perhaps the most eye-opening of the week.

Also because it was my birthday, my parents and younger brother came to visit for a few days (they live in Taiwan, so it’s a short and inexpensive flight for them).  They joined our group on our afternoon and nighttime “cultural tour” to the Songjiang Mosque and Zhujiajiao, and it was really nice to spend a bit of time with my family.  The Songjiang Mosque was one of my favorite places we visited over the week in Shanghai, because it was incredibly old (initially built 700 years ago!) and the people there were warm, welcoming, and more than willing to show us around and let us take pictures.  Zhujiajiao, however, was slightly disappointing, for several reasons.  Firstly, it was very, very cold (obviously this has nothing to do with the place itself, but it made the experience significantly less enjoyable nonetheless).  Secondly, and possibly because of the cold, it was not very lively – only a handful of shops were open, and it was slightly awkward to walk around because we were some of the only people visiting the area.  Thirdly, it felt like we were intruding on peoples’ lives – people actually live in that area, and because it is less popular and therefore less touristy than other areas in and around Shanghai, it sort of felt like we were being intrusive.

Despite my slight disappointment with Zhujiajiao (I don’t think the others shared this sentiment, so it was still a fun excursion!), it was a wonderful day – especially because we went to karaoke after we returned to the city to celebrate my birthday!  Asian karaoke is so incredibly fun, and it was a perfect conclusion to the day as well as the whole trip.