Tomorrow morning we are leaving Shanghai and heading to Xi'an by plane. I'm amazed that domestic flights in China can be booked a day ahead of time.
Yesterday I met with Gerald Chan. Gerald Chan co-founded Morningside in 1986. As a privately-held investment group, Morningside is active in both private equity and venture capital investments in North America, Europe and Asia. The group began its China investments in 1992 and remains active in China's internet, media and life science sectors.
Dr. Chan is currently a board member of Hang Lung Group as well as several biotechnology companies including Metacure, Critical Biologics, and Vaccine Technologies Inc. He is a trustee of Fudan University in Shanghai and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received his BS and MS degrees in Engineering from UCLA, a master's degree in Medical Radiological Physics and a Doctor of Science degree in Radiation Biology from Harvard University. He completed his post-doctoral training at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Xian, the eternal city, records the great changes of the Chinese nation just like a living history book. Called Chang'an in ancient times, Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country. During Xian's 3,100 year development, 13 dynasties such as Western Zhou (11th century BC - 771 BC), Qin (221 BC - 206 BC), Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) and Tang (618 - 907) placed their capitals here. So far, Xian enjoys equal fame with Athens, Cairo, and Rome as one of the four major ancient civilization capitals.
Xian is the capital of Shaanxi province, located in the southern part of the Guanzhong Plain. With the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Weihe River to the north, it is in a favorable geographical location surrounded by water and hills.