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Shanghai Travel - Rotary Group Study Exchange Brings Trip to Shanghai, Article Two
The international organization known as Rotary promotes yearly travel that all people between the ages of 26 and 40, male and female, and of all backgrounds - should know about - because it is a Rotary-funded six week study aboard and anyone can apply to be a part of this significant life experience. If you are this age group - you could enjoy the kind of experience that is described in my notes in this article. To find out more about the program go to the international Rotary website and search for GSE - Group Study Exchange - and contact your local Rotary Club for more information. After being the GSE team leader to Japan for our Rotary District, the following travels were an invitation from Japanese friends to go with them to China.
And more adventures come from Rotary GSE.
November 12th - Monday in Shanghai:
Lilly explained that many industries in China are still government owned and people are used to working for the government. Until only fifteen years ago all were paid the same wages, no matter what job that they did. There is much labor in China - and we headed out this morning early over one of the six suspension bridges connecting the older west side of the city to the newer east side of the City - and all have been built since 1990 -- thanks to the Chinese labor force. This time in history marks a major change for the City as many new buildings and public projects were completed - and we noticed that construction activity seems to never stop here. We drove in the company van - the Jin Bei, a Toyota product - and we commented on others, a Buick, and Volkswagen has a join project with a Chinese venture here. Lilly's parents were penalized twenty years ago for having two children - instead of the "one child restriction imposed by the government" - and lost half of their salary for several years. Today her husband works for the water company - which was half acquired by the French several years ago. Jeans are everywhere - with "bling" - and the dress on women here looks like American women in designed jeans.
Today we are going to Tia Xing - where Kobayashi San's Knitting Factory is located, in a town of about 130 million people - and it's a three hour drive from Shanghai through the countryside. Lilly told us that washing machines are popular in China but not dryers - so people hang their clothes out to try - and thus, these are called the "national flag" - but the government has since said that in the City people can not hang their underwear out in this fashion. We enjoyed the countryside along the way - the houses that surprised us with their grandeur and spaciousness - the neatly tended farms and water ponds and carefully trimmed bushes framing the highway. We were surprised by the large sky-rising frames for the bridge that spanned the mile of the Yangtze River (the Chang Chang Jing River) - and as we looked down we witnessed the highly trafficked commercial river that runs west to east, emptying in the East China Sea - connecting five major rivers - and many many cities. Shanghai is located at the eastern end of the Yangtze River (the "long river").
We arrived at the factory and were greeted, Chinese style, by the staff outside - and Tanaka San and Shidan Xia. Lunch was a grand feast in the company management dining room - so many foods - and we ate heartily. After coffee in the sitting room - Shidan Xia, Lilly, Dennis, Kobayashi San and I returned to the van - to go to Yang Zchou, about an hour away, which is the home of Jiang Ze Min, the former President of China and the home of the Shou Xi Hu (Slim West Lake). Pulling up to the water, we boarded the dragon boats, sitting with the long table, enjoying tea and sesame candy - and beginning our float down the scenic beauty of the lake - past the pagoda style structures, the willow trees gently descending to the water, and the classic beauty of this very Chinese setting. We made our way under the arched bridges, and the bridge with five pavilions, and the 24-step bridge. I really liked the sesame candy and soon Xia brought back six packages to take home. This setting on the Slim Lake would also be very beautiful in the springtime when the peach blossoms and other color enhanced the scenic picture - and we enjoyed today, also, wrapped in a foggy hue.
Leaving the Lake, we stopped at the Da Ming Temple, where the Buddhist monk Jian Chen (who went seven times to Japan to take Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty) - became a monk. We entered the first structure and saw a big statue of Jian in gold with his disciples who were also gold statues on either side. On our way out, we waved at the monks who now live in this Temple - and learned that monks have good wealth in China.
Dinner back at Kobayashi San's Knitting Factory was again a sumptuous feast prepared by Tanaka San - including Japanese "hot pot soup" (with Kobe beef from Japan and good fresh vegetables of cabbage and spinach) and river crabs - and more than Dennis and I could begin to eat - the food was enormously abundant in both Japanese and Chinese offerings. We enjoyed laughter - and the round robin of language being translated from Chinese to Japanese to English and back again - more complex than my translation experience in Japan. Several people could speak two languages - and no one spoke all three - and of course, we were limited to English understanding and marveled at the quick translations that could be made for everyone's enjoyment. Kobaysahi San gave us a tour of his factory after dinner, which was located in the building - and the workers, all in yellow dress, were there well into the evening as the workday concludes at 6PM. This was a great opportunity to see the Chinese labor that we've heard so much about in the U.S. - and the diligent craftsmanship that has provided so many goods for us at home. It seemed that nearly a hundred young woman were in various phases of production - as we marveled at the exquisite patterns that were forming on the knitting machines, intricate and calculated - and the next steps of measuring, adorning and finishing the high quality sweaters, dresses, hats, and gloves that are manufactured for the Japanese and other markets here - and sold for $400 and high prices. This factory uses knitting machines and hand labor - and in the regions of Korea and China, Fukuoka Knitting Company also employs a large labor force to individually hand knit items. It was fun to see and marvel at the beautiful finished product and talented production. And, on the way home, we ducked in for one more -- yes -- Chinese foot massage to send us off into dreamland -- Chinese foot massages are the best.
November 12th - Monday in Tia Xing:
Dennis asked about the vegetable varieties which were enormous - and this morning we cruised the local market - to see the varieties that we'd seen on the table tops in the early stages of preparation - including all manner of fishes, meats, veggies, seasonings and more. This was all before breakfast - and the dumplings of the market were steaming fresh on the center round of the breakfast table - with pickled foods, porridge, Japanese soup and more again than is imaginable for us Americans. Tanaka San cooked abundantly for us. Xia gave us each lovely silk pajamas to remind us of this time together. We drove through the town to Xia's house - that she proudly showed to us. Her glow radiated a pleasure of the Chinese gaining economic ability with the fruits of their labors - and included a big screen TV in every room, and in space and size, was much like our homes. We were headed back in the van to Shanghai today and later to the airport to Fukuoka, Japan to reunite with Japanese Rotary friends. Rotary is known for it's worldwide connections -- that foster understanding and opportunity for people to know people around the globe. And today, this connection, of generous spirit, took me where I would probably not have gone without Rotary's international opportunity.
This article concludes the series -- Rotary travels to Shanghai
Joan Perry
President/CEO of Take Charge Financial! | Joan's Blog and http://www.joanperry.com
Joan Perry has developed her expertise over twenty-five years, beginning as an Investment Banker working on Wall Street and continuing as a Money Manager and Owner of a Securities Brokerage Firm. As President of Take Charge Financial!™, Joan initially founded one of the first female-owned Municipal Investment Banking firms in the United States known as Perry Investments Inc. in 1985, which then began retail and brokerage services to individuals in the mid-90s. She has in-depth trading and market experience from managing institutional and retail investment dollars in the securities markets, and throughout her career has managed billions of dollars in the bond, stock and options markets. Joan combined her personal and professional background in her book A GIRL NEEDS CASH© published by Random House in 2000 - a story of money in women's lives and the transition to taking charge of it. She received her MBA from Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and undergraduate degree from Denison University. She was the founding President of the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club and currently the Co-Chair of the Los Gatos, CA 'Jazz on the Plazz' Summer Concert Series.
Share your comments and questions with us at Joan's Blog -- and see us on the web at http://www.joanperry.com
About the Author
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