venturing into china

I scooted off to Shanghai for three days for a work conference towards the tail-end of my trip back to Singapore. It was my second visit to this largest city in China; the first was also a work trip about six years ago.

I wasn't impressed on both visits. The air was so polluted my eyes, throat and lungs reacted almost instantaneously the moment the aircraft landed at Pudong International Airport. I seem to recall that it wasn't as bad in 2004. In fact the smog was so bad this time round that I didn't see the sky or sun the entire time I was there. It didn't help that the weather was cold and dreary even though winter had supposedly ended.

I was, however, pleasantly delighted by the hotel room - The Longemont Shanghai, particularly the oversized bathtub set right in the middle of the room with a totally open bathroom. In my two nights there, I would watch the news while taking a hot shower in the cylindrical glass cube before settling into a luxurious hot bath reading a book. And there were four elongated soft pillows and four smaller sized cushions on the king-sized bed! Oh my! I felt really pampered. To top it all up, I indulged in a 90-minute private spa massage in the room on the last night to relieve the tension built up in the previous days.


Left: one minute it was empty...
Right: and full of foamy bubbles the other.


The king-sized bed in a room on the 42nd floor which would have offered a fantastic view if the air wasn't as polluted.

We were the Official International Partner for the Aviation Education and Training Summit. Besides sponsoring the executive luncheon and having an exhibition booth to manage, we had a key note address and presentation to deliver, endless private meetings lined up and corporate dinners to attend. We also had a last minute drama to sort out on the last day which almost caused me to miss my return flight to SG. All in all, it was a hectic and very exhausting work trip. It was probably 3x worse for my other travelling companions who had to extend their trip to detour to Szechuan for an adhoc meeting with just an hour's notice.

Well, no work, no gain. On the whole, it was pretty good exposure for our Pilot Academy.


Stage set-up.


Our fancily dressed up exhibition booth; I said fancy because we didn't go with the standard booth provided but instead lugged a 30+kg mobile booth display unit all the way from SG for the set-up. The two aircraft models on display attracted quite a bit of attention. Many actually came up to ask if they were being offered as free gifts. Duh.


Left: networking in speed dating style. I like the ceiling design and the golden chair drapes.
Right: Luncheon set-up.


The VIP table for us the luncheon hosts.


We just had to place a small aircraft model there. There was a little drama with the hotel staff afterwards where they threw the aircraft model away when clearing the tables because 'no one took it away'. It didn't occur to them to return it to the organisers who would have quickly identified the owner.


Left: I ordered a Tsingtao beer at one of the corporate dinners. Have never seen this packaging before. Have you?
Right: The ten course menu for the luncheon.

Shanghai again anytime soon? Maybe not. Would prefer to visit the other less developed parts of China if possible, before they all become another smog-ridden city.