China - Day 6 - Shanghai

CCHS and the four other schools visiting China each made 20 minute presentations on their schools to the counselors at the Shanghai headquarters of New Oriental Schools. Following this, we toured their school facilities. The schools are situated in high rise corporate office buildings.

We finally had a free afternoon, so my wife, Kathy, and I went to Old Shanghai, a large commercial area housed in traditional temple-shaped buildings. We stopped in the garment district and perused the hundreds of small shops filled with jewelry, curios and electronics. Turn a corner and the upscale Armani, Cartier, Tiffany & Co. can be found. The contrast of old temple-style structures and modern high-rise buildings and skyscapers tells the story of the westernization of Shanghai. Shanghai's financial district with the banks of many countries and its investment houses is second only in the world to Wall Street.

A real treat...our yearning for familiar food was satisfied by dinner at a Latin Churasco, finally a good steak! The Chinese governmen shut down Facebook and Twitter several days ago becuase they feared both were being used to incite dissension and foment riots over some local issues in some of China's provinces. Despite the overt signs of westernization, China is still controlled by a tight-fisted central government.

Tomorrow morning we have our final meetings to review potential international students. We then will, take a drive to see the World's Fair area. We begin our 19-hour trek back to the US tomorrow with a late afternoon flight.