Nanjing and Shanghai were my last stops.
I took an overnight train from Beijing to Nanjing (with almost no sleep.. awakard position in trains) and after a couple of days spent in my hometown of Nanjing, I took another bullet-train to Shanghai (only 2 hours apart) and hung out for two days.
Fortunately, I wasn’t part of the mainstream crowd that went to the World Expo – the reason the cost of all Chinese flights and hotels were doubled this year. Tourists from every continent, especially the Chinese, flew to see this big deal. The entire city of Shanghai felt energetic, hip, and just a tad overpopulated and humid during this time. Every citizen of Shanghai was also given a free ticket. That’s some 23 million stubs.
By the end of August, about 45 million people have paid their visits to the 41st World Expo – that’s more than the Canadian population of 35 million – in only 120 days of opening. About half a million visitors crowd the site everyday with countless hours spent in lines for the 50 or so state-of-art pavillions representating different countries.
So, when asked by literally everyone I know, the reason I didn’t attend the Expo and still went to Shanghai, I didn’t respond with the same strange looks I was given. The reason is quite casual. I didn’t want to sweat more than I had in the already close-to-40-degree weather; and I spared no interest for the Expo. I wanted to go explore what the city is known for; its international commerce, fancy architectures, and contemprorary cultures.
I also arranged some coffee meetings and agency visits. Ubber worth the two days of absolute restlessness.
Upon arrival, I met with Lin at the Element Fresh outside Ritz Carlton. Enjoyed an overly-American meal in a resturant where we were probably the only locals. Lin had worked as a strategic planner at the Beijing Saatchi and now over at Ogilvy Shanghai. We shared very similar backgrounds – born in Nanjing and went to school in Canada – so it ignited extra interest in speaking to her. Lin was extremely nice to have came out for a very interesting conversation consisting my many questions on her experiences and insights, one of which is to expose myself to the British advertising playground because of the excellent quality and unique thinking there. Perf. Just another addition on my list of places to intern in. Thanks Lin 
In the afternoon, I hung out with Jiajie, who I had met on my Europe trip earlier in June. I made sure Jiajie to not bring me to a generic tourist sight that I could probably read a book to or check my photo archive for; good thing she knew exactly what my taste was like and brought me to one of my favorite places in Shanghai – Tian Zi Fang (田子坊), an international creative art park, home to more than 100 designer/artistic shops, resturants, and bars, similar to the 798 Creative Zone in Beijing, but more intimate. Tian Zi Fang made me realize how many foreigners there are in Shanghai, everyone (even the shop owners) spoke English and carried big-shot Nikons. It was very nice to take nightly strolls in downtown Shanghai’s alley ways and hotspots such as Xin Tian Di (新天地).
My second day, and also one of extreme business, kick started with a visit to DDB. I first met with Kellie, the HR director, a very friendly Aussie who’s been in China for almost a decade. The office had a lot of foreigners, even more since they were holding the annual training program for all the Asia- regional executives. It is a bit different from the Beijing scene as Shanghai has a stronger focus on Consumer Packaging Products with more international clients – I definitely felt it. Talking about internationlism, I ate at the corner Subway for lunch and came back to exchange a brief talk with Mr. Motman, the chief executive of DDB, who generously accomodated my visit request.
Immediately leaving DDB, I took the subway to the Saatchi office at the SOHO Donghai Plaza（东海广场). It is conveinently located on the 31st floor and upon coming in, the familiar light-shone logo is the first thing to notice. The Shanghai office is less “free” than the Beijing one; no scooters were available for horsing around and desks were more tightly arranged together. There were around 150 people on the floor and again, the interior design was artistically refreshing, in many shades of the elegant white. While I was speaking with Cecile, who’s also a planner here, guess who sat across from us? The colleague from the Beijing office that sat next to me! He was on a business trip but still, it made me realize how frequent I travelled; for me, it felt like it only took walking into another set of doors, from Beijing to Shanghai.
Then right after the Saatchi visit, I went over to the Starbucks by Shanghai Art Museum to meet with Wu Jinjun, who was responsible for carrying out the New York Festivals (NYF) in Shanghai this June – I had prepared to help out for the event, but Cannes’ time shedule was in conflict with NYF so what a pity! For those that don’t know, NYF is also another advertising award festival, they had a couple hundred big shot guests coming from out of China. Jinjun also produced his own 30-minute series consisting of interviews with Creatives in the Chinese ad scene. This man is full of ideas – he’s working on a ton of projects that I’m extremely excited about and wish him the best for. A very smart guy and finally after months of contact, we had coffee. Thank you for the treat, JJ.
So in conclusion, I absolutely abused the Shanghai subway system for the day; spending at least 30 RMB in subway fares (that’s making around 10 runs). A very fruitful trip with many new faces to meet and conversations to thank for.
My train would leave the next day around noon – I spent my morning more relaxed, paid a visit to the Art Museum (a RARE place to be empty in Shanghai) and wandered around Ren Min Plaza (人民广场), the most downtown-central area.
Great impression of Shanghai this time, a city I’ve come across so many times but for the first time, I felt and experienced its rich growth. Hmmm. Would be fun to return for a job opportunity?
Would be.
