Ending on a high note

Tuesday – Beer me Beer me

Tuesday evening was my last opportunity to partake in a Charlie’s Burger run club, and it was another fun evening. I was also honoured to be given the responsibility of leading the slow group (I didn’t take it personally). I’ll be honest, I lost a few people along the way. Being a novice round the streets of Shanghai, it was a risky move on their part, and it did backfire. Thankfully everyone made it back for ice cream safe and sound, more because of my co leader Polly than yours truly.

After the run, Peter took me to a brilliant bar called ‘The Beer Lady’. Now, cages ticked a lot of the boxes for me, but this place is fighting tooth and nail as one of my favourite bars in Shanghai. The USP is help yourself fridges as far as the eye can see, stocked to the brim with bottled beer from around the world. You take a cute little wicker basket, choose as many as you want, pay at the till and then take a seat. We ordered some food and set about getting stuck into some gems. A place like this would clear up in Bristol.

Wednesday – Up in the clouds

Wednesday I continued my crash course in Chinese measurement and I was shown the process for RC structures, including formwork, concrete and reinforcement via the Glodon software. The key is the intricate level of detail provided on the drawings that in conjunction with the software’s technology, produce a 3D image of slabs, walls, beams and is utilised by the measurement team to accurately take measurements.

Having not had a chance to visit yet, Iris kindly suggested I slope off early on Wednesday and take a trip up the Shanghai Tower. The Shanghai Tower is a 632m, 128 story mega-tall skyscraper that elegantly dominates the Shanghai Skyline. It is currently the second tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa, which I’ve also been fortunate enough to visit, and shares the record of having the world's highest observation deck at 562m.

The ‘Worlds Tallest’ list is a highly competitive and coveted affair that is continually changing. Shanghai Tower is due to slide towards the Europa League spots when projects such as Kingdom Tower in Jeddah Saudi Arabia and the Zhongan Center in Suzhou China are completed amongst others.

The tower is an engineering marvel and its tiered construction, designed for high energy efficiency, provides nine separate zones divided between office, retail and leisure. Due to the fact Shanghai is on an inactive seismic belt and the construction site is in a river basin, 980 piled foundations, to a depth of 86m were utilised, along with 61,000m3 of concrete to set a 6m thick base for anchoring the main building. The tower twists about one degree per floor to offset the wind effect at higher altitude and sports two glass facades, an inner and outer one, with the space between the two "tubes" varying from 1 to 10 metres. It utilises a high speed lift to transport people to the observation deck, reaching a top speed of 15m/s and alone cost a cool ￡2.3mil.

The observation deck offers unparalleled views of the skyline and wider sprawling city, and it was brilliant to see it from a birds eye perspective.

Thursday - Shake it off

Thursday morning I braved the horror of a 5am alarm clock and dragged myself out of bed to go for a sunshine run along the Bund (see blog cover photo). I've done it before in other places, and you get to see a beautifully tranquil side of an otherwise bustling city.

Having been Shanghai’s GEEP representative in London earlier in the year, Katherine kindly showed me her presentation regarding ‘Super High Rise Buildings’, a fascinating subject that we aren’t au fait with in the UK. Dominated by China, America and the Middle East, the average height of the world’s tallest buildings continues to grow. She told me about their cost, structure and specific engineering elements. As I touched on with the Shanghai Tower, wind and seismic risk are key players in East Asia and the buildings utilise dampers, huge concrete/steel blocks or pendulums, mounted at the top centre of buildings that move in opposition to the resonance frequency oscillations of the structure created by wind or shocks. It was a great insight considerations that are less of an issue in Europe.

Iris had informed me earlier in my trip that I was lucky enough to be arriving during hairy crab season, a local delicacy plucked from the rivers during September and October. I’m a big lover of seafood and was delighted that she booked us into a lovely restaurant to sample the delights. It was another fantastic spread, featuring sea cucumber, duck kidney, sweet tomato nectar and sliced clam, all in support of the pièce de résistance, hairy crab. It was a messy, finicky affair, with common ridicule sent my way from Katherine and Molly, but I think I performed admirably, and the taste and experience alone were worth the effort.

To complete the night off, we then headed to KTV, the karaoke institution of China. Another activity I’d been itching to try my vocal chords at. This isn’t your run of the mill, rock up when you’ve had a few too my shandies type place. In China they take things seriously, and fair play they aren’t shy about belting out an anthem whilst stone cold sober. Room after room, all themed differently, for varying sizes of groups. Flashing lights, high tech sound systems and neon artwork. Drinks, snacks and 3 course meals. We settled into our room and ordered some beers. First up for me (as chosen by Molly and Katherine…), Taylor Swift and Rhianna. We mixed it up between western and Chinese songs, and there were some seriously good voices on show. Take a bow Iris. It was a really fun night and Peter and I rounded off our time slot with a pitch perfect duet rendition of ‘Westlife – Seasons in the Sun’.

Friday – All good things come to an end

My last day working in Shanghai. Where did the time go?! 

During the day, i made sure to go round and thank everyone for their amazing hospitality during my exchange. I truly couldn’t have asked for better hosts who were so willing to show me their work practices, take me around the city, introduce me to some great clients, and welcome me into their private lives. Its been a very humbling trip and one I will never forget. It’s the first time I have travelled alone for an extended period, and I’d always heard it is a rewarding experience. It really pushes you out of your comfort zone when you don’t have the safety blanket of family or friends. I’ve met an array of people from across China, and further afield, that have really enriched my experience.

Molly and Katherine have been great at breaking down the language barrier, introducing me to a range of new topics and just being all round lovely people. Eric and Iris have taken time out to introduce me to a diverse range of clients, been very accommodating in talking to me about their business and super kind in their generosity when going out.

I’d particularly like to thank Peter. He’s taken time out of his super busy schedule to truly make sure I had a great time in Shanghai. He’s explained numerous projects and Shanghai working practices, taken me to a host of great places and given me other great suggestions. He introduced me to his friends, wife, and snuck me into various running clubs under an alias. I’ll miss our daily lunches, especially when I’m tucking into my cold meal deal sandwich. Peter arranged for us to go for drinks at a rooftop bar at the Bund Saturday night, so that was a great way to finish. I’ll make sure to come visit when RLB open up that Scotland office! I plan to stay in contact with as many people as possible, and WeChat will certainly be staying on my phone.

结束

Apart from missing my girlfriend, family and friends, the last 4 weeks have flown by. I’m sad to be leaving. As Peter has frequently said, I think Bristol might be ruined for me now!

China is a wondrous country, and Shanghai is a sensational city. Even when the initial travel novelty wears off, it’s a highly liveable city, with lots to do, that caters for all tastes. I’ve met a few people in my time here that have recently moved to Shanghai from various parts of the world, and I have to admit, I was a tad jealous. I feel lucky to have come to understand the culture, the people, and the history.

I will miss the scale and grandeur of the projects in China. I will miss meeting and discussing work with world renowned companies and consultants. I will miss the size of the office and going up and down the elevator to work every day. I will miss the myriad of food options. But most importantly, I will miss the people.

Nicola has flown out to join me and we are lucky enough to be exploring a bit more of Asia together. Next stop is Beijing via fast train, so that will be a great way to finish my time in China by exploring one of the other major cities, and ticking off another place I’ve wanted to visit for years, the Great Wall. Then it's South Korea and Japan, before the arduous journey home.

Seeking adventure and testing yourself. Throw a couple more key ingredients into the hotpot, and really, that’s what life is all about right.