10.06.09

In Shanghai….

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:27 pm by Administrator

Well, we have a few days off and decided to explore more of China. What a difference! Shanghai is an amazing bustling city. When I was here 13 years ago, it was nothing like this today. It’s actually quite clean and organized. And very crowded. Patty and I had lunch today overlooking the Bund, the oldest part of the city near the waterfront. There are skyscrapers and high rises as far as the eye can see. You can find small neighborhoods like the French Concession and some older shopping and eating areas that are quite quaint with beautiful old architecture.

This has been a welcome change for us. SIAS University is the amazing dream of a Chinese American man, Shawn Chen, who has built it from nothing to todays student population of over 20,000 in just 10 years. It is however in a much more rural and remote part of China that is quite different. The university itself is a bit like disneyland. Shawn knows that most of these students may never leave China so his goal has been to bring the world to them. We meet in Washington Hall (which looks like the US Capital building on one side and the Forbidden City on the other), eat on European Street and have coffee in Italian Square. It’s rather cosmopolitan…..

More to explore her in Shanghai tomorrow and then back to SIAS for our final 10 days!

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