Monday in Shanghai

So I have a little extra time on my hands today and thought I'd give everyone a fuller update about my adventures in China. I flew in yesterday afternoon on what was about a two hour flight. I slept for the first half of the flight, so it was just that much quicker for me. Then we made our way to the New Asia hotel near the Bund in Shanghai. As a matter of fact, you can see the beautiful skyline from my room.

The rooms here are slightly larger than the ones we had in Beijing, but about the same quality. We also no longer have an opera hall in the lobby downstairs. Too bad for me, no more Chinese opera.

We took some time our first evening in town to explore the area. A bunch of us walked to the Bund and were amazed with how the town looked. (For those of you who are wondering, the Bund is the riverwalk in Shanghai. There are food carts, street vendors, and vending machines. It's a lot like the waterfront in Portland only without the parks.) We decided that Friday afternoon, when we have more time, we're all going to take a river tour. There are several boats that take you up and down the river to see the different buildings and it should be an experience.

Today was a tour of the sourcing company for Target. I was pretty bored for a majority of the tour, but my boredom was my own fault. I let myself be at the back of the line for the office tour and didn't even realize we were on a tour with a tourguide until the very end. Most of us in the back didn't hear a word she said about the office. The presentations were also very supply-chain specific and, because I'm interested more in marketing, I didn't pay much attention. I did find it somehow ironic that so many people work for Target in China (they design and make the actual products) but are unable to buy anything from Target. There are no Target stores in China and apparently you can't purchase things from Target.com for shipping in China. How strange is that?

After the office was a tour of the Target warehouse and the port everything is shipped through. I've never seen so many shipping containers in my life! And yes, Ryan, the longest container ship is a quarter-mile long. I double checked with professionals today. So :-P.

Now it's time to find some dinner and relax before my 12-hour factory visit tomorrow. Have a great evening!