Dates: November 25th – November 28th, 2006
Destination: Shanghai, China
Number of participants: 32

Day One – November 25th (Sat.)
The group left Japan in the morning, arrived in Shanghai at noon, and traveled into the city center on the Shanghai Maglev Train, which travels 30km in 7 minutes at a maximum speed of 430km/m. After lunch in the city, we went to Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, a retro building with plaster walls and wooden stairs. Teams split by themes such as design, packaging, and recycling, were working on the construction of the exhibition space and meeting rooms at a rapid rate, to prepare for the event starting the next day. About 130 pieces (China 60, Japan 30, South Korea 30, Taiwan 20) would be exhibited in all, with participating countries displaying package design works that they had brought. We chatted and interacted with the participants while looking at the works. The group broke up in the early evening. Later on, representatives from each country judged the works, and Pola, Bravis, and TORU　ITO DESIGN from Japan were selected as having submitted excellent works.

Day Two – November 26^th (Sun.)
A full day at APD SHANGHAI 2006, which had around 300 participants.　There were speeches by the hosts, the directors of each country, guest speakers, and a lecture on the situation of design from each country. From Japan, Ms. Mo from Suntory gave a presentation that was received well. There was an impressive fashion show with clothes made from package materials, and a feast of Chinese food to end the day. Throughout the event, we felt the dynamism of Shanghai/China’s growth.

Day Three – November 27^th (Mon.)
Visitations to 4 design companies, Observation of Hypermarket
PG DESIGN & BRAND CONSULTING is located in a renovated building in a district designated as a special zone for art, with budding fashion brands, art galleries, and design offices. The company belongs to the global network SILVER LINING, and works with many foreign-affiliated companies breaking into the Chinese market. They also have a fashion brand, and the group had fun observing their retail store.
QIUWEI DESIGN is a design company with 14 employees under Mr. Qiu Wei, who is in his early 30s. Their business is package design for food and household items. It is a family-like company that resembles typical design offices in Japan.
SUAW & SHAW ADVERTISING is a former advertisement production company with 20 employees. More than 50% of their business is package design work. They have an elegant and serene office in a quiet neighborhood in West Shanghai with a luxurious reception lounge with a wooden deck on the top floor.
SHANGHAI JAHWA UNITED is the design center of a cosmetics company. They had told us of their modern offices at the meeting held the day before, and we asked if they could arrange a visit for us. Their glass office building is located within the factory compound in the outskirts of town, and it is a clean and spacious office environment that wouldn’t be possible in Tokyo.
GUBEI STORE is a shopping center with a Carrefour, which has a similar range of goods as Japan, albeit with different products. They had a remarkable foodstuffs selection, which obviously includes Shanghai crabs and even horseshoe crabs, a protected species in Japan.

Last day – November 28th (Tue.)
We had some free time in the morning and some members visited the Yu Gardens. The group left for Japan in the evening.

Although it was a short stay, our observation tour was very productive, as we had the opportunity to see with our own eyes the present situation of Shanghai’s growth and package design. We would like to extend our gratitude to the members of SPTA and everybody who welcomed us at each of the places that we visited. The next APD will be held in Taiwan in 2008.