I finally got the chance to leave my little Beijing comfort zone and hit up Shanghai for a long weekend. While I didn’t get to see the World Expo (it ended in October), I got to attend the Girl 2.0 Expo. You may remember I helped to launch Girls in Tech China back in May. This was phase two of the program. The Girl 2.0 Expo was the culminating event for Girl 2.0 campaign, a cross-border initiative to catalyze female business and innovation between China and the US.
While I didn’t have as big of a role in the planning process, I was flown in for the event to help in the final stages. I think my adventure actually began in Beijing. My flight left at 7am, so I woke up quite early to catch my flight. Friends, let me give you a word of advice: the locals and the lys do not mix well before the sun rises.
There are examples galore to illustrate this, but the best I can give you involves me at the security checkpoint. Now, everyone who knows me in the Middle Kingdom knows there are a few things I never leave home without: tissues, a kuai or two and hand sanitizer. Hand Sanitizer and I are best friends. Hao pengyoumen you might say if you were here with me. Before I knew where to find it here, my fabulous mommy would ship it to me in special packages. Now, if I stay somewhere for an extended number of days, I leave a bottle there for safe measures.
With this being said, you could imagine my disgust when Mr. Security Officer tried to discard my beloved product. Not because it was too large, but because it apparently was flammable. To prove his point, he squeezed some of the sanitizer onto his table and tried to light it on fire. Naturally, nothing happened. He discarded it anyway. I through a fit and demanded to speak to his manager. He manager took one look at the product and gave it back to me. To summarize a long (but hilarious story), ten minutes of my life was wasted because of an idiot. Thanks.
Anyway, I think it was love at first sight when I landed in Shanghai. Due to its history, Shanghai is a melting pot of European and Asian culture. It’s extremely modern, with 90+ story skyscrapers, but also has its fair share of tiny tree-lined streets, especially in the French Concessions district. I spent my time traveling between the two areas, which have a way of blending nicely together.
Friday was spent working on the event with the core team – tying up loose ends, creating presentations, etc. In the afternoon, we visited the venue of the event – the massive Himalayas Center – for a private tour of the still yet-to-be-completed facility. It was impressive — I had never seen so much pink in one area. They had our logo on their ceiling, which features the largest LED screen in Shanghai. There must have been 50 workers handling the event to ensure everything would be completed in time. It really put the whole project into perspective.
If that wasn’t enough, we hit up Chateau 599 for a VIP dinner. My job? Keep everyone happy. I ended up talking to Larry Namer, co-founder of E! Entertainment Television. He is now currently in China helping to bring television shows popular in the States over here, localizing them in the process. His latest venture? Gossip Girl Shanghai. Look for a crossover episode or two in the coming months.
After dinner, work continued into and throughout the night, with a short break for sleep at some point around 5 or so. Jenny thinks we slept for 15 minutes; I tend to think more positively and put the number at 40. Note for next year: working in taxis on the way to the event doesn’t work very well. Especially not in Shanghai, when the drivers are nuts and leave me feeling nauseous afterwards.
In the interest of brevity, I’m going to just say that the event itself was amazing. We had a packed audience. Seating for 170 with over 200 showing up. We were able to spread the word about the growing number of female innovators and various projects they are involved in, and, most importantly, get people hyped about things to come in the future.
The real fun began after the actual event ended and the weight had been lifted from our shoulders. We starting by having dinner with fellow team member Jing’s family, who insisted we drink shot after shot of the ever-potent Chinese baijiu. One of our Chinese friends kept warning us to be careful – these dinners can turn into total shitshows – but what were we supposed to do after Jing’s family bought a case of the liquor?
Luckily, we all survived and made it to the next destination: the Music Room on the 92ndfloor of the Park Hyatt hotel. The venue: a bit disappointing. Though we were in the tallest building in the city, the venue surprisingly enough did not lend itself well to viewing. Plus, the drinks were shit. Cosmopolitans should NEVER be on the rocks in a lowball glass. However, the people: they made the night fabulous. I was privied to the notorious and legendary dancing of Dave McClure, which is sort of like watching a real life Night at the Roxbury, and (let’s be honest) it’s really hard for even the worst of bartenders to mess up champagne. All in all, it was a crazy 46-hour “day.”
Sunday was spent in the most fascinating place I’ve ever seen – and yes, I have been to Disney World. This tops it. We went to this place called 东南东(East by South East). Just outside the city center of Shanghai, it’s a compound that will eventually feature residential and commercial buildings, the largest mall in China and an “innovation college,” complete with an area for the innovators to turn into entrepreneurs and sell their products. Please make sure you take a look at the pictures because the place is incredibly. Steve Liang, the chairman of the product, designed the first mall in Taiwan. It bleeds creativity. Words don’t do it justice.
On Monday, I was invited to tour Xindanwei, a collaborative workspace building with a social media platform. It gives growing entrepreneurs their own workspace in an inexpensive setting surrounded by others just like them. The idea is that people can feed off each other, and, rather than competing, they can complement each other. In theory, the concept is great; from a business perspective, it’s a hard concept to sell. I wish Liu Yan and the rest of the team luck. She seems to have surrounded herself by a number of experts in the social media community of Shanghai, evidenced by the luncheon I attended that she organized.
As I was leaving Monday night, I freaked out around 2pm that I had seen a ton of cool innovative aspects of Shanghai, but no touristy sites. My friend Isaac to the rescue. In lieu of a planned coffee break, we went on an expedited tour of the must-see sites, where he gave me his expert commentary on The Bund and Xintiandi, home to the first meeting of the CPC. Isaac, I know you’re way too busy to view my little and inconsistently updated blog, but THANK YOU. I finished up my weekend in Shanghai by grabbing all the vegetarian street food I could find and indulging.
I gained a lot from my trip to Shanghai: weight, experience, new clothes (yes, I snuck in some shopping), spray hand-sanitizer and friends. Overall, a very successful trip.
To see pictures from my trip, please click here.
Great pictures. Some of them brought back fond memories.
I have one question: How are you ever going to come back to the good old US of A and be just “another” young woman?
Your experiences in China are so amazing and unique. A great tribute to your skills and assertiveness.
Aunt Elise couldn’t believe that I didn’t have a comment to make. She made me think that I had better say something or you might be surprised also that I didn’t. So —- great hearing about your side trip to Shanghai. Everything sounded great till I read that you gained weight. My advise — gain everything else but not weight. That’s it for now.
Love, Grandma