This was my last day of meetings for this trip:

• Zhang Wei Hua, General Manager of China Telcom Shanghai (a genuine big wig)
• Yong Zhang, Cleantech Practice Partner at Qimming Venture Partners and an Eisenhower Fellowship candidate
• Marc van der Chijs, Founder/CEO of SPIL Games Asia and a co-founder of Tudou.com, the Chinese YouTube.
• Jim Curtis, Executive Director, and Ning Shao, Chief Executive, at the Shanghai Representative Office of the Department of Community & Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The first meeting, at China Telcom Shanghai was really fun. We got caught in terrible traffic and the taxi got lost, so we were a bit late. The regional subsidiary of China Telcom has 20,000 employees and a gorgeous building in Pudong, an almost completely new area on the east side of the Huangpu River. Xu Gian Gang, from the Public Relations department met us in the lobby and we were quickly escorted by a young woman to a special elevator (where another to the top floor, where another attendant waited), then out and down a wide corridor to a Reception Room. It was furnished just like the rooms we’ve all seen on TV through the years.

Henry Kissinger and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao

The Reception Room at China Telcom Shanghai

We waited for a short time, until a series of people came rushing in telling us that “he is coming”. He arrived with an entourage, but was dressed casually, had a big welcoming smile and immediately made me feel at home, despite the very formal setting. Mr. Zhang Wei Hua is an Eisenhower fellow who has moved up through the ranks, including doing a stint in the U.S. During that period he established a peer-to-peer network from China to the U.S. to eliminate the cost of transport for all of the new Chinese internet users accessing U.S. sites, and established four POPs throughout the U.S. He also created a service structure for multi-nationals with a Chinese presence to single-source their Chinese communications infrastructure, moving all of their Chines-related business to China Telcom while saving them money and simplifying their infrastructure. Today, he is focused on the “four screen” experience. TV is an area where China can leapfrog the U.S. because there is no cable infrastructure hampering next generation services. Today, Shanghai customers can access their TV and other services (information like weather, home monitoring systems,..) through their computer, TV, mobile and – soon – an iPad-like touchscreen device called Magic Touch. It was a fun meeting, both the venue and surrounding formality and the content. It was familiar territory having spent so much time at Comcast.

With Zhang Wei Hua

We then had a Japanese lunch with Yong Zhang, who proved to be smart and charming. I’m looking forward to seeing him in Philadelphia – I can’t imagine he’s not a perfect candidate to be a Fellow.

Then we went to another “park” this one a garage converted into a center for creative companies. There we met with Marc, who is running a game company, starting up an ecommerce company, and was a founder of Tudou.com. He’s been in china for 11 years. At this point I’m hearing the same things from most people, and Marc confirmed a few of them. First, you can start a company on almost nothing and get much farther before (if ever) you need outside money. Second, the culture is very different, and companies that are “Chinese” are very hierarchical – that’s how Tudou works and Marc left because it was clear he didn’t fit, but he’s still on the board and his wife is the Chief Administrative Officer. We also had a brief conversation about Tibet – he biked from Lhasa to Nepal with Gary Wang. I wish we’d had more time to talk about that.

But off we went to the last meeting of this trip, a homecoming of sorts, to the Pennsylvania Center, where I put a face with Jim Curtis’s name – he was very helpful in setting up meetings – and Ning Shao.

After relaxing for a bit at the hotel, I was planning to go to the World Expo. But I’m getting a cold and decided to go to the Bund instead, which was perfect. It was a nice evening, humid but not too hot and with a breeze coming off the river.

The Bund

The view from the Bund of Pudong is something.

Pudong from the Bund

The crowds are amazing. A mix of locals and tourists (mostly Chinese). Then I walked down Nanjing Road, a major shopping street, which was also mobbed. and caught a taxi (all by myself!) back to the hotel for my last night in China.

Nanjing Road