Shanghai: It was only after Shi Zhenlong left Silport Club that his caddie Huang Ying found out that the kindly gentleman who she had served that day was actually a famous Taiwan information technology tycoon, a man who Bill Gates had expressed his admiration for.

“I knew he was great VIP,” Huang said of the Acer Chairman.“When his partner Mr Xu asked me to guess who was the older of the two, I said ‘I didn’t know.’ He laughed and told me that Mr Shi was older and richer than him.”

Shi was at Silport as part of a group of Taiwan IT industry leaders that included Compaq Computer President Xu Shengxiong, Quanta Computer General Manager Wang Zhenhua and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co Ltd Managing Director Chen Shengde.

The group had come to Shanghai for the China Grand Prix, the country’s first Formula One Racing event that was held in nearby Anting. The Acer Group, the computer system sponsor of the leading Ferrari Racing Team, invited the business partners from the Taiwanese IT industry to watch the race. The golf party provided a wonderful start for their F1 tour.

Shi, an avid golfer, said no matter how busy he was, he always liked to play golf with his family every Saturday. The suggestion to play golf in Shanghai was his idea. He said he had come to Silport on a friends’ suggestion and he knew a little about the club from its hosting of the Volvo China Open and in reading the Silport website. He also heard about the club’s sister course---Tiger Beach in Haiyang Shandong Province.

At a dinner party after their round, car driver Lin Baoheng provided a brief introduction to watching a F1 Racing to the IT industry captains. On their departure, Shi and his guests expressed their appreciation of Silport and thanked club owner Soong Beta for their wonderful day.