DAY 1 (16TH JULY 2016)

The flight to Shanghai Pudong International Airport from Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) took around 5 hours. Before landing in China, we were required to fill in the China Landing Form in the airplane, which consists of two parts, arrival and departure card. The arrival part was to be submitted to the custom upon arrival in Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The departure card will be submitted to the customs upon leaving China on the last day of the trip. At 5.30am, the whole team touched down at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Figure 3: China Landing Form

Before travelling to China, we found out that there are hardly any open Wi-Fi connection services available in China. Most Wi-Fi connection requires sign in using a China registered phone number. In order to ease our connectivity with others especially with the corporate visits in China, we bought sim card with China registered phone number for some of us. We chose to only provide for some of us is because we would like to learn to make full use of the limited resources provided.

We boarded on a pre-booked bus to the Genting Star Hotel Shanghai Branch. Along the way, we saw that nearly all of the shops have their signboards written with Chinese characters. It was pretty much a disadvantage for travellers who are Mandarin illiterate. This has also made us realized that the quote “The world must start learning Mandarin as China market is growing” is indeed true.

Figure 4 Subway cards

After keeping our luggage in the hotel and had a quick breakfast in the restaurants nearby, we departed to our first destination, the City God Temple by subway. Fortunately, we were able to purchase 3-day subway pass, which is similar to Touch N’ Go in Malaysia but with unlimited usage. One notable point is that in every subway station, there is a bag/luggage checking counter (similar to the custom check-in). This is a preventive measure carried out by the Chinese government to ensure the safety of their citizens, especially after a bombing incident in Shanghai Pudong Airport. Every passenger is required to get the bags checked before entering the station.

CITY GOD TEMPLE

Figure 5: Security check at subway stations

Around 10am, we arrived at Yu Yuan Station. We were in awed with the architecture of the shops and buildings along the Yu Yuan Old Street. We felt as if we were taken back into the ancient times of China. The architecture and ambience of the location showed the hard work and effort in preserving the art and culture of China. It was very well preserved and maintained, thus living up its name as a tourist attraction spot.

We walked a bit more to reach the City God Temple because it is situated at the other end of Yu Yuan Old Street. The City God Temple is one of the most significant Taoist monuments in the Shanghai region, with a long history of approximately 600 years. Occupying an area of 1,000 square meters, the temple consists of six halls: Huoguang Hall, Jiazi Hall, Plutus Hall, Cihang Hall, City God Hall and Queen Hall. 

Three Bodhisattvas are worshipped in the City God Temple, which are Qin Yubo, HuoGuang and Chen Huacheng. In the ancient times, Qin Yubo lived in Shanghai, and worked in public service in the late Yuan Dynasty. HuoGuang was a famous officer of the Han Dynasty for his role in deposing one young emperor and replacing him with another. Chen Huacheng was a Qing Dynasty general who was responsible for the defence of Shanghai during the First Opium War. He was then being murdered in battle against the British. Since City God is the patron saint of the city, hence residents of the old city- as well as nearby areas- visited the temple to pray for good fortune and peace. 

The difference between this temple and the temples in Malaysia is that the temples in Malaysia have free admission but this temple requires admission fee. We come to know that the admission fee is inclusive of the joss stick for worshipping purpose. Unlike in Malaysia, visitors can freely visit temples, and they will only buy joss stick if they wish to worship.

Figure 6 Group Photo in front of City God Temple

Figure 7 The QR code to be accessed using WeChat

           Also, there are different QR codes provided in the temples which visitors can scan the QR code and retrieve explanation about the place. Similarly, Malaysia can consider implementing this technology in the tourist spots for the convenience of foreigners. In addition, different languages and guides can be provided with the introduction of mobile apps or QR codes, which makes the visit interesting and more interactive. On the downside, notices are written in Chinese characters, and the explanation requires installation of WeChat, a China mobile phone application. Therefore, convenience is solely meant for Mandarin literate people.

Figure 8 Interacting with foreign tourist in City God Temple

We were being assigned to have a short assignment in City God Temple which is to interact with tourist and identify the reasons behind their visit to City God Temple. From the photo showed in Figure 5, friends from our team managed to talk to a tourist from France. She got to know this temple as it is a tourist spot, she could only observe and enjoy the beauty of buildings and what other peoples do but not understanding why. She mentioned that it would be good if there is someone explaining or a board showing some explanations of City God Temple. As mentioned in the report earlier on, if guides can be provided in different languages through apps, visitors can literally conduct a self-guided tour and understand the whole history behind the temple.

After that, we left City God Temple and out to the Yu Yuan Market. Yu Yuan Market spans a wide area and it is a street filled with local delicacies and souvenirs. Again, almost all menus in eateries and notices in shops are written in Chinese characters. This is probably a disadvantage to foreigners who hope to buy local products as souvenirs but unsure of what exactly it is, also, ordering food will pose difficulties. The restaurant owners do not possess good command of English, and can hardly communicate with foreign tourists when they ask about the ingredients and price.

Another point worth noting is that most of the souvenirs do not have price tags on them. This adds in to the seller’ advantage as they can mark up the prices and pretend to cut down prices verbally to attract customers.

At Yu Yuan Market, we were being assigned to conduct another short assignment, which is to select a shop or stall in the market and study their business strategy. One of the teams chose a food stall instead. The food seller did show the price tag, but the pricing method is misleading. For example, the price shown is to sell in 250g, such as 99RMB/ 250g, but normal selling weight is 500g. So the price is being double up and people might have thought that the food is sold at 99 RMB. This will attract customers by having a thought that the price is cheap, but actually the price is being doubled up.

YU GARDEN

After lunch, we proceed to visit another famous tourist attraction – Yu Garden. Yu Garden is a famous classical garden located within the Yu Yuan Old Street. It was built in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) named Pan Yunduan. Yu in Chinese means pleasing and satisfying, and this garden was specially built for Pan's parents as a place for them to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age.

The whole garden is very well preserved and maintained. The architecture, trees and rockery provided visitors tranquillity and serene escape from the bustling city life. Similar to City God Temple, there are QR codes provided in the temples that can be excess using WeChat. Visitors can scan the QR code and retrieve explanation about the place.

NANJING ROAD AND THE BUND

During evening, we departed to our next destination – Nanjing Road. We were lucky to have the opportunity to explore more of Shanghai by visiting Nanjing Road as Nanjing Road (East), People Square, Nanjing Road (West), The Bund, were all situated within the same area. These places are must-visit places to really experience and understand Shanghai.

The Bund is a famous waterfront and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. The most famous and attractive sight which is at the west side of the Bund are the 26 various buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance. However, the speedy growth of Shanghai caused a certain level of air pollution. While we enjoyed the beautiful views and scenery of those signature buildings such as Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Financial Hub and so on from The Bund, we can see there had a layer of smog in the air as shown in figure 9.

Figure 9: The air pollution in Shanghai

We plucked up the courage to perform Malaysia’s cultural dance – Joget, during our visit to The Bund. It is also to share Malaysia’s culture to the visitors. We were thrilled to quench their thirst of curiosity about Malaysia when some of them even took picture of the performance and applauded.

As the evening drew to a close and night approaches, we had our dinner in Nanjing Road, completed the short assignment. The trip to Nanjing Road was definitely a memorable one as we got the first taste of how is it like being in the world’s most populous city. Due to the fact that it is a weekend, there were even more people out for shopping and sightseeing. The crowd was similar to that of a demonstration if it were to happen in Malaysia. We found out later that the population in Shanghai itself only is more than the population of whole Malaysia.

Around 10.30pm, we headed back to our hotel and a debriefing session was conducted. It was an exciting yet tiring day for all of us to explore so many places within a day right after we landed in China. During debriefing session, we shared our feelings and thoughts for the day, and also in areas that can be improved for the upcoming days.

We concluded that the behaviour of China's people are very different compare to Malaysian especially sellers. The most interesting thing was how the local sellers promoted and sold their products to tourists. They used very aggressive ways in order to attract customers and compete with their competitors. The business ethics can be categorized as below average, perhaps due to lack of strict regulations. Most of the sellers did not put price tag on their products and marked up the price very high to gain high profit. We need to bargain the price before buying and the condition worsen due to communication difficulties. Some of the sellers were very unfriendly because they could not speak English well. Additionally, their customer service was indeed bad and unwelcoming, even though the bargaining power of sellers was very high due to high demand in tourist spot.

We learnt a lot from the assignments we did earlier in City of God Temple as well as in Nan Jing Road. Nan Jing Road had already modernized into an advanced city in Shanghai, China. There were many familiar brands in Nan Jing Road such as Forever 21, Innisfree, McDonald, Mac City and so on. However, the ancient styles of the road remained the same. While walking along the streets, the good old times of the streets like those of 18th and 19th century can be felt.

After the debriefing session, we ended our very first day in Shanghai and went back to room respectively to rest.