Category Archives: Shanghai

Shanghai – 6/5

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Jerry Slocum & Michelle Truong

The final banquet

Our last full day in China! We surprised Wendy for her birthday right at midnight with a durian cheesecake that tasted like durian bread. During the day today was everyone’s last chance to finish up their projects, so for the most part we spent the day working. By 4 PM, everyone was finished and each group gave a final presentation on their projects.

I think everyone did a magnificent job and Professor Sheehan said that he was very proud of our work. After presentations, we all headed to the final banquet via subway and Professor Sheehan’s wife and friend joined us! The dinner was a real treat and we even had cake for Wendy’s birthday! This was the first time most of us used chopsticks to eat cake, but it was too delicious to resist. Professor gave a toast, followed by the rest of us. After we presented him with a gift. We gave Professor Sheehan a figurine of himself with the caption “GEA 2019″. Afterwards the birthday celebrations continued at Karaoke. Everyone was glad to be done with their projects and ready to have fun.

Professor Sheehan and his gift

June 3 & 4 in Shanghai

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Matt Slade

Hey all, Matt again. On Monday I woke up and went down to breakfast with my roommate, Connor, and some other friends. The Sheraton breakfast was huge and had so many options. After that, my group and I spent the entire morning working on our paper and doing some research at the nearby supermarket. We got a lot of good work done in Wendy’s room and I felt a lot better about the project after that. In the afternoon, we went with Professor Sheehan to Nanjing Road in Shanghai to find some more popsicles. This excursion was super fun and we saw a huge part of the city. We went to Häagen-Dazs to try some of their luxury, very expensive ice cream. We tried to go to People’s Square, but it was closed, so we decided to go to the second biggest Starbucks in the world! Professor had to go back to work with some other groups, but we stayed out, had dinner and went shopping. We got back to the hotel late and I went right to bed: I was exhausted.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery, Nanjing Road, Shanghai

The next day was pretty similar. We spent the morning working, and then all went out to see the City God Temple and the Yu Gardens. Both of these were closed, but the area around them was super cool and we were able to get some good gifts for people back home. I had a little dinner in the hotel room and then went to bed because I wasn’t feeling great.

Jasmine, Eric, Sarah, and Matt on the subway

Jasmine Sears

Hi all! Jasmine here to tell you about my days. I started off my Monday with my research group, “PERIODT.” aka Team Tampon, and worked on finishing our final paper in a Starbucks near our hotel. We conducted further background research and made important progress toward finalizing our project’s thesis. Afterward, we headed out with our T.A. Jeremy to meet up with Guang, a former student of Professor Sheehan’s who lives in Shanghai. Guang brought us to a restaurant that served incredible food of the Gobi Desert. Their lamb was delicious.

Our “Gobi Desert” lunch

With very happy bellies, Team Tampon + Jerry of Brew Crew then conducted field research in a nearby Walmart store. Next, we traveled by Metro to Jing’an Temple. The temple was beautiful, and the surrounding neighborhood had great shopping and exciting food.

Jasmine in the Jing’an Temple area, Shanghai

Finally, I ended my night by visiting a popular spot in the Bund that had a spectacular view of Pudong – Professor Sheehan calls it “Tomorrowland.” On the way home from the Bund, a taxi driver scammed my friends and me by charging us ¥250 for a ride that should have cost at most ¥80. Very unfortunate, but also a great learning experience.

Pudong “Tomorrow Land” as seen from the bund

Early on Tuesday, everyone convened in Professor Sheehan’s room for a final round of “Rose, Thorn, Bud,” a daily ritual that Matt first introduced at the beginning of the trip. Everyone shared a Rose, their favorite experience of the trip, a Thorn, their least favorite experience, and a Bud, an experience they are looking forward to. It was so sweet to reflect back on our trip and remember all of the great things that we were able to do over our couple of weeks in China.

In the evening, I explored an area in the French Quarter called Tianzifang. It had great shopping for jewelry, tea, and souvenirs and was my favorite place in Shanghai so far. For dinner, I had some spectacular Chinese barbecue at a restaurant near Tianzifang.

Tianzifang

First Day in Shanghai-June 2

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Clarence Lai & Michele Torne

Morning bus ride to the train station in Hebi

We had an incredibly early wake-up call for our last morning in Hebi and had to be ready by 7:30 AM. We had a long day of travel ahead of us… We boarded the bus one last time, sharing our last moment on this trip with our fantastic tour guide, Johnson and expert driver, Mr. Kong. 

With our bags filled with snacks, we awaited a seemingly never-ending train ride of 6 hours in the train station. Although lengthy, the trip created many unforgettable memories, including a debate on when/how/why we should rotate our train seats. We spent a good amount of the time on the bus crafting and sharpening our thesis statements, as well as our body paragraphs for our group project papers. After our bus stopped in front of the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, we walked into luxury – a fragrant, cosmopolitan experience in the heart of Shanghai. Once we rested up, we all got dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then ended our official events of the evening with a subway ride and evening stroll through the busy main street to The Bund.

Subway ride on our way to the Bund

The marvelous skyline of Pudong seen from the Bund in Shanghai

Zhengzhou and on to Shanghai

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By: Cindy, Anbar, Rowan

Our two days in Zhengzhou provided us the opportunity to devote more time to field work, while honing in our research focuses and enjoying the city. The nearly endless traffic meant we relied on public transit, namely the Zhengzhou metro which is currently in the process of expansion. We all started field work at Erqi Square, the main monument in Zhengzhou, which a few energetic members of our group climbed. For our group (Team C.A.R), the ubiquitous nature of electronic stores around Erqi Square was certainly advantageous. While the mobile phone advertisements were very similar to Hebi, the special organization of stores, as well as brands carried differed in interesting ways. Other groups had similarly valuable experiences, with team Bingbing finding sports stores they hadn’t seen before, and team Momo locating a large street devoted entirely to street food.

Zhengzhou from hotel conference room

Zhengzhou from hotel conference room

All the groups and Professor Sheehan rallied together for a group lunch, and for simplicity’s sake (and a sense of curiosity to see if there are any differences), we all settled for McDonald’s. At this time, many of the teams started seriously inventorying evidence acquired from fieldwork, and working on developing frameworks for arguments and final projects. Team C.A.R arranged all of our advertisement photos, and created a chart that reflected different categories based on price and reputation of the smart phone producer, and price of the actual models. After meeting with Professor Sheehan, almost all teams were struck with ideas over the framework of our projects, which we recorded on impromptu paper (McDonald’s place mats).

After having the opportunity to have Professor Sheehan join us on field work to an electronics mall, the class headed for an excursion to Haagen-Dazs. While pricey, the ice cream at Haagen-Dazs was fantastic, and some even considered ordering a second ice cream dish. Dinner was a similarly elaborate affair, with the class heading to hot-pot, where we were able to cook our own meats and vegetables in boiling broth, and see the process of noodles being prepared at our table. With full stomachs, we all retreated back to the hotel, to relax, work and prepare for the next day.

Brandon Cheung, Jacob Lokshing, and Rowan McEvoy enjoy dinner.

Brandon Cheung, Jacob Lokshin, and Rowan McEvoy enjoy dinner.

Wednesday was one of the few days on our trip without planned meals and excursion, which gave us the opportunity to further explore areas of interest and conduct field work. It was also our only class meeting on the trip, where each group made a presentation that included a preliminary argument, and analysis of evidence related to our arguments. While some students took the opportunity to sleep in, others chose to explore a series of underground shopping areas in Central Zhengzhou, as well as preparing presentations. After nearly getting lost trying to find a Walmart, we returned and all gathered on the 23th floor for our presentations- with a fantastic view. Our team’s tentative framework reflected differences in advertising based on the tier of the smart phone company and prices of phones, suggesting a move from a consumer driven focus on basic functionality to a focus on lifestyle and finally aesthetics. Team Momo’s presentation focused on experiential and spatial differences in snack foods, while Bingbing focused on the use of celebrities in advertising sports clothing in both Chinese and international companies. A main aspect of the presentation was the ability to get feedback and questions from Professor Sheehan and the rest of the class, which was particularly valuable in considering the direction and focus of our projects. The journey to Shanghai will be bittersweet because while we are all excited to get to explore and experience Shanghai, it marks the last stop of our trip.

– Team C.A.R

Last Day in China

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By: Yunwen Gao

Now that all the Global East Asia (GEA) scholars are flying over the Pacific Ocean back to LA, when I am organizing the photos I took along the trip I still can’t believe our summer program has come to an end. As Professor Sheehan’s metaphor goes… “coming to China is like going through a worm hole, time is both elongated and shortened.” It feels like our GEA family has been living together for more than a year, and yet we have only been together for a month. I can’t describe how immensely this summer course has reshaped many of our assumptions about Chinese consumerism and globalization, for both the scholars and myself as well. As someone born and brought up in China, this trip to Beijing, Kaifeng, and Shanghai is a process of rediscovering China through a fresh lens.

The final day consisted of the final project delivery and farewell banquet. Despite the last minute rush, as any last day of USC courses would have, our amazing scholars delivered their final projects at a high level of professionalism and insightfulness. The Foodies (Christopher Carpenter and Alice Kim) examined fast food restaurants and food courts in shopping malls in Beijing, Shanghai, and Kaifeng with our course tools, and compared the fast food industries in first tier cities versus a third tier city like Kaifeng.

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The Foodies Take on China: Christopher Carpenter (left) and Alice Kim (right) presenting their final project

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The Fast Food Restaurants of China’s Malls: A Claim to Global Cosmopolitanism

The Skins (Phoebe Yin, Megan Lee, and Ashley Szydel) focused on the cosmetics industry, in particular, face masks produced internationally and domestically, and formulated their observation of the three prevailing models of marketing strategy, the luxury, mainstream, and niche models supported by extensive research and interviews.

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The Face of the Chinese Cosmetics Market: Megan Lee (left), Ashley Szydel (middle), and Phoebe Yin (right) presenting their final project

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The Face of the Chinese Cosmetics Market: The Faces of Globalization

The Arhats (Jonathan Peppin, Psalm Chang, and Michelle Ngan) took the issue of the commodification of religion in China and enriched the dialogue of globalization greatly. Their visits to jewelry stores, Buddhist and Daoist temples, restaurants, etc., provided us with a new picture of how religion has been commodified to convey the sense of piety, pragmatism, and playfulness. With the help of Professor Sheehan, all three teams successfully elevated their observations and analysis of Chinese consumerism and globalization to a whole new level.

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Commodification of Religion in Contemporary China: Jonathan Peppin (left), Psalm Chang (middle), and Michelle Ngan (right) presenting their final project

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Piety, Pragmatism, and Playfulness: The Temple Model of Consumption in Contemporary China and the World

As we were waiting to be checked in at the Pudong airport, some of us started analyzing the advertisements around us. Looking at each other, we realized that walking out of this class, none of us could view advertisements or commercials as we used to do without examining what’s behind them. As the TA of this class, I feel proud of everyone in this program just as Professor Sheehan does and look forward to seeing each of them succeed in the future.

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Proud Papa Sheehan!

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Farewell Banquet in Shanghai

 

Exploring the Temples in Shanghai

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By: Jon Peppin, Psalm Chang, & Michelle Ngan

It has certainly been a busy couple of days for us. We have finally made it to Shanghai, and wow what a cool city it is! Never imagined that we would get to walk on the Bund in person and see what Papa Sheehan calls the “architect’s playground” before our eyes. It’s very different than Kaifeng in that there are actually many tourists, which makes us stand out less. At Xintiandi, the Old French Concession, we explored high-end shops and enjoyed the refurbished buildings. We got to experience how bartering works (and sometimes doesn’t work) at the City God Temple area, with its numerous shops of souvenirs and different items.

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A look at the architecture of Xintiandi, the Old French Concession.

In terms of our research project, we have been working very hard at figuring out a concrete thesis that would then lead to smooth transitions and present our evidence-driven argument in the most effective way. Needless to say, we’ve had to tweak and sometimes even change our theses completely. Guess that’s why it’s called a working thesis. Once we got the thesis established, the structure of our research became a lot more clear and we are now working on finalizing our thoughts into a succinct 1600-2400 word essay, as well as forming our presentation to share with our class.

Today was our last day doing deliberate fieldwork. Yunwen was kind enough to show us how to take the subway and the bus. Without her help, we would not have made it to the City God Temple and Jade Buddha Temple as smoothly as we did. The City God Temple stood out to us in the sense that the temple seemed to be willing to move along with society, specifically with the presence of Daoist-themed iPhone 6 cases. The gift shop cashier claimed that all of the objects for sale were blessed (“kai guang”), so buying the items would almost give the consumer an added sense of security, thereby giving the temple added power in terms of its marketing to its consumers. Our long morning doing fieldwork ended on a delicious note when Yunwen brought us to her favorite noodle shop, which is part of the Jade Buddha Temple site. We each had mushroom noodle soup–yummy!

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The Arhats and the amazing Yunwen enjoying bowls of mushroom noodles at the vegetarian noodle shop at Jade Buddha Temple.

It’s hard to imagine that our 2-week trip to China is coming to a close soon. We will definitely remember these days even after departing… taking this course has also been such an eye-opening and significant part of the trip that only added to the wonderful experience here.

Say Shang(hi)!

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By: Alice Kim and Chris Carpenter

Shanghai is an absolutely amazing place. For someone experiencing the city for the first time, it would appear to be a fusion of the old and the new, the antique and the advanced. While this is partly true (lots of developments in the city have been reconstructed to appear ages-old for the sake of tourism), the city is, as it was intended to be, an example of immense growth, expansion, and investment.

After traveling by train for over six hours, we arrived in Shanghai to the smiling face of our new tour guide, Clare. Clare took us on a preliminary tour of the city. It was nice to gain a lay of the land before being on our own for a majority of the remaining week of our time in China. One of the stops was the Yu Garden. The intricate pathways snaked through a preserved example of an exquisite Shanghai palace that included quarters for concubines and servants.

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The GEA 2015 Scholars on one of the many intricate bridges in the Yu Garden

We then turned our attention to the personality of modern Shanghai. We toured the Xiantiandi area, stopping at coffee shops, international clothing stores, and even an art installation. The area was distinctly European in its makeup, with narrow streets lined with arcing trees that created an intimate and romantic experience amidst the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Shanghai.

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One of the streets of the Xiantiandi area, a few feet away from clothing stores and coffee shops

The day’s tour culminated in seeing and climbing the Oriental Pearl Towel, the gargantuan centerpiece to the modern Shanghai skyline. After zooming into the air roughly 260 meters in 30 seconds we were given a view of the city unlike any other. It was dizzying to see the city from a bird’s eye view.

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The Oriental Pearl Tower. We were able to see the city from the second “pearl.”

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GEA 2015 Scholar Megan sitting high above the ground in the Pearl Tower.

A long and exciting day came to an end in the most unforgettable of places: aboard a private yacht circling the Bund. GEA 2015 Scholar Phoebe’s immense hospitality allowed us to cruise the beautiful waters and see the nighttime skyline of a city on the forefront of modernity and technology. Advertisements as large as the high-rises they adorned broadcast messages about cell phones, and some buildings illuminated their sides with messages like “I Love Shanghai.”

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GEA 2015 in front of the private yacht that took us around the Bund.

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The Bund at night.

The Last Few Days in Shanghai

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By Jeff Levine and Ethan Levin

Wednesday was the second-to-last class, and after the presentations of the Shanghai margins project, we realized we only have one more day of lecture upon us. The end was coming up fast. Along with this end was our final project – it was a marathon of a week! The freedom afforded to us in the prompt of this last project was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because we could talk about anything within the realm of globalization; a curse, because the vague parameters caused some soul searching among the GEA participants: What was the most relevant of topics that we should discuss for this last thesis? We spent much of the rest of the day attempting to figure out what it is that we should be talking about.

On Friday morning, we had our final class. It was a bittersweet moment. On one hand, we were excited to be done with the marathon week of presentations and be finished with work; while on the other hand, it would be the last time we would be meeting to watch and root each other on. We’ve come a long way from where we started. We have a clearer understanding now of just how unclear the word “globalization” can be, and can better examine the complexities that revolve around it – especially when it comes to China.

Chip and Amanda giving their last presentation

Chip and Amanda giving their last presentation

After class, we had some afternoon free time to explore, nap, or do whatever before the banquet. We decided to take the opportunity to go visit the Shanghai Science and Tech Museum – conveniently a stop along the subway lines (a subject on which, by now, we’ve become experts). We’ve already explored the incredible shopping center underneath; however, we (embarrassingly) had yet to check out the actual museum. We were glad we did. The museum was incredible. Each floor housed a few different exhibits, each one emphasizing intimate interaction and participation. The first floor, my favorite, featured a recreation of the Yunan Rainforest. It was an elaborate array of (fake) animals and plants, complete with bamboo bridges, waterfalls, and caves – plus even more exhibits within the exhibit, devoted to insects, birds, molecular studies, and more. This was only the beginning, though it had the greatest impact. The other floors featured body and health, the universe, information technology, and robotics.

A rainy day at the Shanghai Science & Tech Museum

A rainy day at the Shanghai Science & Tech Museum

The entrance to the rainforest exhibit

The entrance to the rainforest exhibit

After the museum, we got back with just enough time to prepare for the banquet. After a 40-minute taxi ride, as well as some sleuthing for the right building, we arrived at the restaurant. The banquet was course after course of delish food, such as fish, egg rolls, cabbage, duck, tofu, and more. Our stomachs were long satiated before the waiters (or fúwùyuán) stopped coming. Just writing about it now makes me hungry again! While the food was superb, there was, yet again, a bittersweet mood to the dinner. We were all so happy to be feasting on this deliciousness together, but we all knew that this would most likely be the last time we were all together (already one of our comrades had left us, shout out to you Steven!). We concluded the night with one final tour around the neighborhood.

Everyone together at the banquet

Everyone together at the banquet

A group of us with the Professor walking around the banquet neighborhood

A group of us with the Professor walking around the banquet neighborhood

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Studying in Shanghai

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By Coleman Monroe and Christmas Myers

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June 11. Building and pond in the Yu Garden in Shanghai

The day after we returned from Dunhuang was a free day, and many of us used it to explore the city of Shanghai. This photograph was taken at Yu Garden, in the City God Temple area. The Yu Garden is a breathtaking oasis within the city that is filled with koi ponds, jade rock formations, and pagodas. The garden was constructed in the Ming Dynasty by a wealthy minister and had an important role in the history of Shanghai. The garden played many roles throughout its history: merchant guild, British headquarters during the Opium War, and a meeting place for the leaders of the Taiping rebellion. However, we could never truly forget about the big city around us, as the tallest building in Asia protrudes into the skyline.

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June 12. The group in front of the Pearl Tower in Pudong, Shanghai

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June 12. View from the top observation deck in the Pearl Tower in Pudong, Shanghai

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June 12. Chip and Coleman posing on the glass floor of the Pearl Tower in Pudong, Shanghai

Today we took our final group field trip to the world famous Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower. Standing at 1,535 feet, gazing at the tower from below is astounding. It is no wonder the tower has become the landmark symbol of Shanghai. Our tour guide took us to two observation decks. The first one was an enclosed orbital viewing deck that provided 360 degrees of breathtaking views of Shanghai. It was shocking to see the sea of buildings that seemed to stretch as far as an ocean’s horizon, which poignantly depicted Shanghai’s rapid urban development. The second observation deck consisted of a glass floor, which gave the impression of walking on air. For those of us who are afraid of heights it was a chilling reminder of just how high up we really were. Since we had a considerable amount of time on each observation deck, some of us indulged in snacks while absorbing the glorious views surrounding us.

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Back From Our First Expedition

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By Steven Luong and Olivia Chui

A few hours were spent in Hangzhou, a city a few hours west of Shanghai. The group took a boat ride around West Lake and strolled around the picturesque lake. The place was bustling with tourists and locals alike and the group witnessed many people enjoying their weekend afternoon. Afterwards, the group bused back to Shanghai.

Taken: Hangzhou, Saturday May 31, 2014 at 14:40

Some of the group before a boat tour of West Lake in Hangzhou (Taken: Hangzhou, Saturday May 31, 2014 at 14:40)

Taken: Westlake, Hangzhou. Saturday May 31 at 14:35

A picture of the boat after the tour (Taken: West Lake, Hangzhou. Saturday May 31 at 14:35)

On a rain-filled Sunday, a day of rest and fun was in order. Many students stayed around the Fudan University area, taking time to recoup from the exhausting travels of the previous few days. Others decided to brave the wet weather and venture to other parts of the city like the popular City God Temple Area, a vestigial landmark of old Shanghai.

Taken: Pudong, Sunday June 1, 2014 at 17:40

Road signs at a popular Shanghai intersection (Taken: Shanghai, Sunday June 1, 2014 at 17:40)

Taken: City God Temple, Sunday June 1, 2014 at 18:00

A view of the City God Temple area from a restaurant (Taken: City God Temple, Sunday June 1, 2014 at 18:00)

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