Today was our final day of company visits and our first visit was at TE Connectivity. This visit was not very exciting for me, primarily because it was geared more towards engineering students. We had the opportunity to tour the factory, and while I knew that what was being done was interesting, I felt as though I did not know enough to truly appreciate it. Also, this visit overall felt disjointed and poorly prepared for.

After our TE Connectivity visit, we went to lunch at a restaurant in a mall. This was a very good meal! We had small portions, but a lot from which to choose. My favorite was a fried shrimp and rice spring roll. Surprisingly, throughout my entire time in China, this was my first spring roll. We also got some kind of ice cream dessert, which was exciting because dessert does not seem to be too common in China, or at least not at our meals. This dessert was a box of toasted bread with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some fruit. It was quite good! (See photo)

With lunch finished, we made our way to DuPont R&D center for our final company visit. The DuPont tour was already off to a better start than TE Connectivity for a number of reasons; 1) There wasn’t a sad pile of deflated balloons greeting us at the entrance, 2) DuPont had a sign welcoming us to their company, 3) DuPont actually had enough seats for all of us. After an introduction to DuPont and the products that have been invented there, we were taken into the Global Collaboratory, where we were able to look at certain inventions and products that were made and designed at DuPont. There were a number of cool and innovative products in this room. My favorite was a fake book that, when opened, turns into a lamp. The fake pages stand up, as though they are fanned out and the light could serve as a night light or even a reading lamp. Another interesting product DuPont has produced is longer lasting yogurt. In China, people drink yogurt with a straw, and it does not even have to be cold. DuPont created yogurt that has a shelf life of 6 months, so that it can last long enough for everyone in China, both those in cities and those in the remote country side, to enjoy.

With the company visits done and over with, it was time for me to complete my section of our business proposal group project. As soon as I got back to the hotel, I did my research and prepared my information so that it is ready to be finalized tomorrow before we present. I was also super lucky that my VPN decided to work because I was able to get on YouTube for all of about 15 minutes to listen to music. I have been so deprived of music, so these 15 minutes were a blessing, haha! Dinner was on our own tonight, so Jordan, Nilaani, Athena, and I went to a restaurant on Nanjing Street. I had fried rice with pork and shrimp, which was pretty good. We walked around for a little afterwards, and found a nice bakery. We went the whole trip without dessert thus far, but Shanghai just has too many yummy bakeries to pass it up!

Tomorrow is the final full day in China, and I’m not sure how that is possible 🙁