Day 10 -- Shanghai

Tuesday, December 16, 2008. Shanghai is a city of about 18 million people. The elevated freeway that runs between the countless skyscrapers leaves the impression you are in a sci-fi movie.

In 2010, Shanghai will host the World Expo. Our first meeting on Tuesday was with the Director General of the event. They predict they will have 70 million visitors to the Expo over a 6 month period.



The investment for the Expo site is 3 billion Euros. The investment in infrastructure citywide is expected to be at least 30 billion Euros.

After lunch we toured a GM car plant. It is a 50/50 venture between GM and the Chinese government. The tour of the physical plant was virtually identical to the car plants I have toured in the U.S.



We met with some managers after the tour and received some fast facts about the company. I was surprised to learn that about 80% of the plant employees are under the age of 35. We asked the question again about average wages for employees, but we got the same answer. The wages are secret, but attractive.

GM Shanghai is hurting in the current economy, but not like other domestic automakers in China or GM in the U.S. In 2007 GM Shanghai manufactured 500,000 cars. The number will be closer to 410,000 in 2008. Unlike the Cherry plant, however, GM has not had to drastically cut back production shifts and so far they have avoided the layoffs that have hit so many other manufacturers.

Before dinner we had a quick stop for some sightseeing at a telecommunications building known as The Pearl.



Even through the smoggy sky, there were some pretty spectacular views.



On the way out, we rushed through a cool history museum. Dinner was quick too, because we were trying to make a 7:30 performance of the Shanghai acrobat circus. The performance was unbelievable. It was a wonderful blend of traditional performances and modern technology. It was clearly a huge tourist trap, but you don’t want to miss it if you are ever in Shanghai.