International Marketing Study Program 2007
Shanghai
6th and 7th January 2007
On the 6th of January 2007, we arrived in Shanghai and were immediately shocked by the freezing cold weather after enjoying 35+ degree days in Melbourne! The most obvious difference between Shanghai and Melbourne was the crazy roads and road rules (or lack thereof!). Our tour guide commented that despite holding a drivers licence, he refuses to drive as he is too afraid to hurt himself or pedestrians who seem to walk out when ever they feel like it. We all agreed that we wouldn’t want to drive on the roads either (even in a tank!)
Our first casualty of the program was nearly Damian’s suit bag which he inadvertently left on a rail in Shanghai airport. He realised his error and raced back from the bus as we were loading out bags to find it had been removed. He was now very concerned that he had no business attire to attend the company visits and would have to buy a suit in Shanghai. We told him it would be expensive. Fortunately with the help of Robbie our tour guide and the local airport police as well as cleaning staff the suit pack turned up and Damien breathed a sigh if relief. He now looks after his suit bag very well.
On our first free day, we all explored Shanghai by morning. Some visited the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (which is one of the most interesting architectural landmarks in Shanghai), while others took advantage of the local shopping. Fortunately for us the exchange rate from the Australian dollar to Yuan works well in our favour! The same afternoon we participated in a guided tour of Shanghai by Robbie and visited The Jade Buddha Temple, the Old Shanghai Gardens and Markets and a drive through the Bund which is a picturesque area of Shanghai with beautiful colonial buildings looking across the river to then new modern dynamic buildings in Shanghai. We also had a lovely meal in a restaurant on the seventh floor of No 3 The Bund which had stunning views of the city, the river and the skyscrapers that make up Shanghai.
The highlight of the tour was definitely our trip to the fake market where most of us picked up some 'genuine' Louis Vuitton, Ralph and Chanel goods at a very special price! Some of the Mandarin speaking students were able to help us bargain with the local shop keepers, often to achieve a discount of up to 75%! These shopkeepers were very secretive about their counterfeit items, keeping them in secret rooms out the back. Sarah and Louise were asked to wait in a back room while looking at fake bags as inspectors were searching the main shop! On this same night, a few of us went out for a cheap local meal ($4AUS per head!) and then onto Barrels, a local Kareoke bar where Sarah sang two songs for the group no comments have been provided!
Andrew was the clever one as he was the only group member to travel on the magnetic train that travels the 30 kms to Shanghai Pudong Airport in 7minutes and 20 seconds reaching 431 kms. Everyone else was so jealous.
Dubai here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Sarah and Brett
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