Shanghai 2009: Happy 100 RMBs!

Today I had the pleasure of attending my first Shanghai Rotary meeting. Although there is a standardized way in which meetings are conducted, it was quite interesting to see the cultural twists on familiar agenda items. For example, when we recited the Four-Way test at the beginning of the meeting, we also recited the lines in Mandarin Chinese! Secondly, instead of donating "Happy Bucks (or Dollars)," people donated "Happy (or sad) 100 RMBs!"

Midway through the dinner, I was asked to hold the money bucket. One of the club officers auctioned off 3 boxes of mooncakes and a cigarette ashtray (which, he claims you can use to hold nuts if you don't need it as an ashtray). The ashtray was sold for 900 RMB...although the bidder first offered 888 since eight is a lucky number in China.

Finally, we had an absolutely excellent guest speaker. Anthony Elvey, a Director at Cisco, spoke about the organization for the upcoming Shanghai World Expo. Apparently, all chicken products will be sold without the bones...as the organizers are afraid that it will cause more unhygienic conditions. Secondly, the organizers are most afraid about the toilet system that will be in place. Thirdly, you must go to the Expo with a plan on what you want to see and get out of it. It is simply impossible to see everything.

The dinner was excellent...as you will see from the below photos. The meeting took place at the elegant Shanghai Hilton near the Jing'an Si Metro stop. All the Rotarians and guests were/are incredibly friendly. I met one from Michigan (also a UM graduate), one from Kansas, and several from the UK, South Africa, etc. There was a group taking a tour across China; the first tour is ending and there will be another group coming soon.