I had the opportunity to witness this transformation firsthand during my first visit. On that trip, it took nearly an hour and a half to travel the 20 miles from the old city airport to the Peace Hotel due to traffic congestion. However, it was our car competing with bicycles, not other cars. We couldn't exceed 10 mph, as bicycles darted in and out, making it too dangerous to drive faster. Bicycles had the right of way at every intersection, and the police strictly enforced it. Today, visitors can fly into the state-of-the-art Pudong airport and take a Maglev train to the city center, arriving in just minutes.

The transformation was so dramatic that I often had difficulty finding my way around Shanghai during my subsequent visits. Cumulatively, the changes are even more stunning, as illustrated in the chart below. As a 'supply chain guy,' I believe it's not a stretch to argue that the supply chain enabled China's growth, rather than the other way around.