Slept in and then went out with Kevin and a bunch of people to wander the streets and shop. We took the subway to Hui Ko Road. Lots of small shops and department stores – nothing too exciting. Kevin and I split off and went to the Shanghai Museum. Student prices were five yuan (cheap). Kevin didn't have his student ID so I told him to just give them his California drivers license thinking that they wouldn’t know the difference. In perfect English the ...

Stayed up late, got up early – very tired today. It's a bit warmer and more humid but sunny and bearable. I think we’ve really lucked out with the weather this week – sunny and 70’s (as opposed to rainy and 90’s in Jakarta!). One more day of translated Chinese presentations – it’s going to be tough. The first stop was Shanghai Airlines. It’s May Day, a holiday here so the business is officially closed. The office is...

We took off for the Pudong New Area across the Huangpu River. The first stop was the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It was in yet another brand new building, but seemed very tame compared to the NYSE. I found out that trading consists of all limit orders controlled by computers – there are no market markers. The people on the floor are just order takers, not true traders. Next we went to Luijazhui Development Center. They are responsible for the development of a ...

Took a long drive out to the Shanghai VW plant this morning. Got a presentation from their German CFO. It was good to see the viewpoint of a foreign JV partner. You could tell he watched what he said since his Chinese "partners" were in the room. He did admit that he didn't know why the Chinese did some of the things they did but also told us that this plant was the most profitable venture in all of VW. However, it was difficult to get profits out of the country ...

Woke up around 5:30 and couldn't really get back to sleep. Finally got up around 7:15. Got a weird call at 6:00 – some Chinese girl offering a "massage" for 500 yuan. Found out later a bunch of people got a similar call. Adam tried to talk her down to 200 but still no deal. Went to breakfast then off to CITIC Industrial Bank. Very nice, brand new offices with marble floors and a large etched glass picture of the Bund above the entrance. Next, we visited She...