Day 8: William Alexander, YC ’10 and Stuart Symington, YC ’10
Shanghai, Wednesday, May 23
Every time the Yale 100 Delegation boarded a plane and headed to a new city, we experienced a different vibe and saw a unique side of China. The independence provided by Day 8 allowed participants to explore Shanghai and discover just how much the city differed from Beijing or Xi’an.
Our first day in Shanghai began with a familiar element, however. Similar to Beijing, the local alumni club hosted a breakfast in our hotel. While a speech by U.S. Ambassador to China Randt highlighted the Yale Club of Beijing breakfast, the Yale Club of Shanghai session focused on the experiences of participants. Vice President for New Haven, State Affairs, and Campus Development Bruce Alexander briefed the Club on Yale’s recent developments and plans for the future. History of Art professor Sandy Isenstadt delved into the friendships that the members of the delegation had forged and would bring back to New Haven next fall. School of Management student Roger Goldberg discussed some of the incredible opportunities that our trip had allowed us to experience. Anna Goddu (Ezra Stiles College ’09) expanded on Goldberg’s speech by retelling her amazing family visit story. She recounted how a local school treated her like a celebrity and her host family asked her to give their baby its American name. She chose “Christopher.”
Day 8’s second event allowed delegation members to chose to visit the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Pudong District Government, or the GM China Plant. I chose to attend the Pudong presentation, although the Shanghai Stock Exchange proved to be the most popular option. My session focused on the district’s incredible transformation into the financial and commercial center of Shanghai and, consequently, China. Since development began 1991, Pudong’s economy has exploded. It was amazing to consider that almost all of Pudong’s dazzling skyscrapers have been built in the last 17 years.
With the mandatory events complete, delegates were free to spend the remainder of the day however they chose. Armed with a list of suggestions provided by the translators, the delegates dispersed into every corner of the city. I traveled with a group of friends to Nanjing Road. We soon found the overabundance of familiar stores, western-style malls, and aggressive street peddlers not to be what he were hoping for in Shanghai. We wanted an area offering a more traditional Chinese shopping experience. For the first time during our travels, we suffered severe language barrier issues. It seemed as if no Chinese citizens, besides those hoping to sell us fake watches and sunglasses, were able or willing to communicate with us in English.
After what seemed like an eternity, a German couple suggested that we head to Old Shanghai. Now we just had to find a way to communicate “Old Shanghai” to the Chinese taxicabs. Eventually we realized that the Chinese name for the Shanghai Old Street was already on the list of suggestions that our translators had given to us. We showed the drivers the sheet and were finally on our way. Old Shanghai proved to be exactly what we were looking for. The buildings displayed traditional Chinese architecture and housed shops where determined bargainers could buy gifts for as little as 20% of the original sale price.
My friends and I completed our amazing day by dining at M on the Bund. “M” was an upscale European fusion restaurant that overlooked the Huangpu River and offered an absolutely breathtaking view of the Shanghai nighttime skyline. The dinner provided a pleasant change from our diet of Chinese banquets. In fact, my T-bone steak was so good that I almost forgot I was in Shanghai, almost. (W. Alexander)
Shanghai is best described as “ultramodern,” a one-word description used by a fellow Yale-100 member as we drove through the city on our first full day there. The city is the face of a rapidly developing China and is emblematic of China’s rapid rise to economic superpower status following Deng Xiaoping’s liberalizing reforms beginning in 1979.
Having only seen the Shanghai skyline the night before while driving into the city, our group had just had a glimpse of the dynamic metropolis. On this day, we divided into three groups and visited influential institutions throughout the city. My group got the chance to directly engage with, and learn about, the driving force behind the city’s, and to a larger extent China’s, economic growth — the Shanghai Stock Exchange (or SSE).
The SSE occupies a central position in a newly developed area of Shanghai. Surrounded on all sides by the skyscrapers characteristic of the bustling economic center of China, the building fits in with the Wall-Street-like atmosphere created there, although the area is much newer. After stepping inside the impressive building itself, we were given special passes and escorted to the trading floors where billions of dollars in stock trade hands each day. Expecting to see a chaotic trading floor, I was surprised to see a room full of perhaps hundreds of computers but strangely empty, with no more than ten traders nonchalantly checking market indicators and making trades while sipping on coffee at their PCs.
After taking a couple pictures, the group was ushered into a comfortable conference room where we met with the leaders of the SSE. After a brief introduction to the importance of the Exchange for China and to the mechanics behind how it works, the Exchange leaders opened up the floor for questions. One of the first centered on the apparent lack of activity on the trading floor. According to the officials, 99% of trading is now conducted online, showcasing the power of technology in developing the financial institutions of the future. Other questions focused on an increase in domestic mutual fund ownership by native Chinese citizens; the divide between State-Owned-Enterprises (SOEs) and domestic entrepreneur’s companies on the listings (80% of the companies in the exchange are SOE’s while 20% are privately owned); appreciation in real estate, and the connection between the SSE and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Leaving the SSE, the Yale-100 had a free afternoon in Shanghai to explore the city that has brought a wealth of economic opportunities to China
