The international world of Shanghai

Firstly, I want to send a HUGE congratulations to all of my friends and colleagues back in Brisbane. On Friday night, CumminsNitro won the prestigious "B&T Queensland Agency of the Year" award for the second year running. It's the result of a lot of work by the greatest agency team that work with the best clients in the State. I am incredibly proud to be a small part of what is now a large and fantastic team. Well done guys and gals, have a great party next Friday. Celebrate like there is no tomorrow.

Now back to Shanghai:

Thanks to one of the guys I work with (Shags), I was introduced to the exciting and oh so chic international side of this great city.

We headed to THE BUND for dinner as I had not been down there at night (which is when its at its best). Shags used to work in China two years ago and is back, and still knows his way around.

It started with a fantastic Japanese dinner. At Aqua, where the reception has a tank with 4 black tipped reef sharks swimming ferociiously above the entrance. Talk about a welcome sign! Warm Sake, beers and the "Beef Tongue" was great, full of flavour and not as chewy as we thought it might be.

Then NEW HEIGHTS bar. A balcony and bar over looking the river and PUDONG. There is an entire building that is like a giant TV screen with super bright moving images. Cristian would be able to run his water fall image here for Nature Own and it would look great. I will get a photo of at some stage.

Then the Glamour bar, which is just that, all Glamour (owned and ran by an Aussie Chic no less).

A few Bourbons at the bar and a lot of people watching. My big observation was that the bar had more blonde women than black haired women. That's a rare sight here as you would expect.

At about 12 we headed to the opening of the newest and hottest "lounge" in town (thanks to Shags mate Scottie). The international side of Shanghai was certainly on show.

The new spot is on the 23rd floor of the "Want Want" (that's its name) building. The Lounge is simply called SIN. The VIP and media Invite only party was pretty cool. french Champagne and 42 Below were flowing. The music from Opera to Hip Hop to Dance, it was pumping. Through Scottie and his girl Cherry, I got to meet some of their friends and did a lot people watching. There were acrobats, models in the most amazing costumes, dancers. It was going off. But, people were there for people. It was the place to be seen last night.

And, meeting people is like travelling the globe without getting on a plane. I struck up a chat with a Mexican Girls and and Indian guy. He is here to set up a restaurant and she works in some science stuff I didn't get. That there was Kristell from Canada who has a Latin American boyfriend and it just goes on and on. It was a huge night (and morning).

I have been to some big parties and had some big nights over the years, but nothing quite like this one - I had a taste of the fast paced international social life of Shanghai, and all I can say is WOW.

The future of China

One of the great things about my job, is the need to understand people, what they think, feel and do. So, when you drop a person like me into a foreign place and give me time, I start to explore what the locals are like and what makes them tic.

It means sitting in a restaraunt just watching people (cos I can't understand what they say), can be really interesting. And studying people in research for work, that is even more exciting.

Yesterday I sat through hours of focus groups for one of our clients. The consumers were 19-20 yo uni students and 16-17 yo school students. All guys.

The first funny thing was having a female interpretor. She was a "spontaneous" interpretor, (which is as good as it gets) so she spoke a second after the consumers but said it all in English. (I was impressed) Picture it, 6 boys all talking at 100k/hr with their different voices and all I can hear is a young Chinese lady talking in English. A bit crazy but it makes you concentrate.

Anyway, it was great to hear what Chinese kids do, how they feel about things and so on. Unlike Australian kids, the "One Child" policy in China has had some real impact. As nearly all families have only one child, they create very strong bonds with their closest friends. That sounds obvious, but deep down, the generations of single children families have adapted and it's clear that their best friends are like brothers or sisters. They share the challenges of life and especially of school. These kids work incredibly hard to get through. Start to understand the language and just learning to read and write is enough to amaze.

Then overlay the cultural and traditional influences that are changing so quickly. Just think, it is only 30 years (almost to the day), that the first 'official' recognition that the 'cultural' revolution should cease and was a bad idea. And therefore officially endorsed (of sorts) the changes in direction.

"On December 18, 1978, the pivotal Third Plenum of the Eleventh CCP Congress was held. During the congress Deng famously stated that "a liberation of thoughts" was in order and the party and country needed to "seek truth from facts". Hua Guofeng engaged in self-criticism, stating that his "Two Whatevers" policy was a mistake."

Now the Shanghai University is one of the biggest in the world and education, the arts, literature (and the Olympics) are thriving. So imagine, these kid's parents' at the same age had very limited access to anything really cultural (art /literature/artistic education etc). And when the kids were born, China was just starting to find its feet again.

I sense a feeling of 'catch up' in the culture.

The modern desire to succeed is tempered by the culture of great respect and politeness. On one hand they compete to be better than everyone else but not in an agressive or self centred way. They are smart kids too. At the same time niave. They love brands. They love each other. They want to stay in touch with trends, but not set them. They want to conquer challenges, but do it with friends and not on their own. And I haven't even started on the differences between cities or the differneces between cities and regions.

And the other thing about Shanghai kids - they can all ride a bike!

And my finishing observation to share.

I think someone is really trying me out.

When I arrived, I was annoyed by a billboard I could see cleary out of my apartment window. It was for Jacobs Creek wine and had a big kangaroo on it. Crappy wine and a big roo in the middle of Jing An. And the headline was; "Welcome to our country" It just annoyed me.

I saw it coming down the other day, which made me very happy. Now, I think I am beig given one supersite sized hint. See the pics below. Is someone telling me something? (and there is a Tiffany & Co one block from my apartment). That's just not fair.

(If you can't see, it's a really big solitaire diamond ring)

Entry is free - a culture of sharing

I have talked about how close the Chinese people are to each other. Especially in lifts, when queueing at intersections, when shopping and there's a sale on, on the streets, in lines for food stalls and at bars waiting for drinks but I have not mentioned how sharing they are.

A walk through any of the big parks first thing in the morning but especially on the weekends will show you what I mean.

They are people that like to learn and better themselves, they are also willing to share their learnings with others. They teach each other without question, without ridicule, embarrassment or expectation (of payment). It's a pleasure to see their collective energy to learn and culture of sharing.

The other great thing is how the large parks have little 'corners' (as they are often called) where common interests are shared. This makes for a wonderful environment and a pleasurable wander (even if a few things are a bit strange)

Let me share with you some of the 'culture' I have spotted so far.

Dancing in the streets (ballroom lessons)










The woodwind section in the rock garden














Solo singing
(I couldn't get a shot of the choral singing as the crowd was too big)

Card playing (this happens everywhere)

Top spinning (fun to watch when they get tangled)











Tai Chi (anyone can join in, no matter how small you are)














These people have posters and signs up. They are actually match making (for family and friends). An interesting angle on the theme of sharing.

A bit like advertising your children or friends children for marriage. (although arranged marriages are pretty old school now)

Badminton (any wonder they got medals at the Olympics)

Playing the... (thing with strings)

Entry to the park is free, so is the entertainment, the lessons, as are the smiles - all thanks to a culture of sharing.

The humble push bike

If you have read the blog on crazy one way streets, you will know that 2/3 of all trips in Shanghai are done by a bicycle or scooter, or something in between. So this blog is a dedication to; the humble pushy, the scooter and the crazy people that risk their lives every day on the streets of Shanghai.

Now, why is he fixated by the bicycle all of a sudden, you ask?

Let me share with you some interesting thoughts and observations to justify my indulgence of your time.

• the taxi drivers and car drivers are more crazy than the bicycle riders, so going on the road is risking life and limb.
• the riders have a healthy disregard for the road rules making it even more exciting to the observer
• the bikes don't come with helmets (nor do the riders) and probably no brakes
• they carry the family, the pets and the shopping on them
• they are a commercial form of transport for more than couriers
• this is a big city, with smog and dust, so it's pretty gritty out there
• every day you see something interesting on a bike as it scoots past you.
• anyone that rides on the foot path and tries to run me down on a push bike needs some credit for courage (or stupidity)

So rather than prattle on any more. Please enjoy these pictures. Note, that if you click on them you will get a full size version. Enjoy.

To all my cycling friends, this is one place lycra, kevlar, computers, cleats etc are not trendy or neccessary. All you need is a $40 bike and a gaurdian angel.