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Economics and Geography trip to Shanghai 2019


Lower Sixth Form students enjoyed an eye-opening visit to Shanghai in the first week of the Easter holidays. Company visits included Yakult, VW, Bao Steel and Unilever. The group tasted, tested and marvelled at the scale of operations of some of the largest manufacturers in the world. At Unilever, graduate trainees gave insight into career paths and opportunities in product development, research and marketing; at Bao Steel, we felt the heat of the ingots being rolled into 18 tonne coils; and at VW, we watched robot technology as part of the manufacturing process.

A packed schedule also included an acrobatics show, a trip up the Pearl Tower with its glass floor platforms, an evening river cruise and visits to the financial district and Huaxi model socialist village. We were fortunate to walk across the world’s longest glass floored bridge, though the sway and a section making the sound of breaking glass was not to everyone’s liking. A local market provided opportunity to haggle over prices, a skill that the students readily engaged in, and finally, we travelled at 300 Km/hr on the Maglev train back to the airport.

Shanghai, with a population of 26 million people, is China’s largest city. It has global importance and continues to develop apace. The trip offered a unique insight into the geography and economics of the city and, indeed, China. Around each and every corner, there was an assault on the senses – sights and spectacles at a scale that is hard to imagine or describe. The students were fantastic ambassadors and immersed themselves fully into this unique experience.

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