My day travelling to China seemed to last forever, and I only felt able to calm down upon arriving to Shanghai.
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I woke up at the crack of 7 am, for some reason. No idea why my body decided sleep was overrated! I packed the last of my stuff, feeling all jittery and excited. I had a cup of green tea and some cottage cheese with strawberries, even though my stomach was doing acrobatics from all the feelings. My head was buzzing with questions, like, “What’s going to happen?”, “Will I survive?”, and the ever-so-comforting, “Am I ever coming back?” I’m really hoping everything goes well in China, and fate decides to be nice to me for once.
I gotta say, I’m super thankful for all my awesome friends and family. You guys really helped me get the guts to do this. I’m still a bit scared inside, but you know what they say: “What doesn’t kill you makes you… weirder?” No, stronger! Definitely stronger.
Oh, funny story. I tried to get some magazines and newspapers to pay me to report live from the solar eclipse in China, but they all ignored me. Apparently, my journalism skills aren’t as impressive as I thought.
Arriving to Shanghai
Then, when we landed in China, it got even crazier. We were greeted by people in full-on biohazard suits, checking everyone for bird flu! It felt like I was in a bad sci-fi movie. I’m not sure what was scarier, the potential bird flu or the hazmat suits.
So, here I am, chilling (or rather, sweating) in this place called Blue Mountain hostel, waiting… and waiting… for a bed. I, in my infinite wisdom, assumed getting a bed would be a piece of cake. Turns out, the place is completely booked. Oops!
And finding this place? Let’s just say, a pleasant stroll this was not. It took me a solid four hours! I thought, “Hey, a walk will be nice.” Famous last words. After that, I ended up dragging myself and my heavy Biltema backpack of 70L onto the metro anyway because walking in this heat? No thanks. Also, trying to read a map when the street signs are all in those squiggly Chinese characters? Not my idea of fun. I even asked for directions, which mostly resulted in confused stares. Finally, as I was dramatically sprawled on the ground, map spread out like a lost cause, a lovely girl took pity on me. I guess my “lost tourist” vibe was strong. She pointed me in the right direction, and the metro, with its glorious air conditioning, finally delivered me to hostel-ish.
Eventually, my stomach started rumbling so loud I knew I had to eat something. Trying to order was… a performance. They couldn’t quite grasp what I was saying, so naturally, I became an artist and tried drawing a chicken on some paper. My masterpiece, if I do say so myself. Guess what arrived? Soup with liver! Now, I really, really don’t like liver. I gave it the old college try, I really did, but my taste buds staged a revolt. So, sadly, I remained hungry. And just to make things extra special, that liver taste lingered, so I had to buy a Pepsi just to wash it down.
Anyway, it’s ridiculously hot and sticky here in Shanghai. It was actually pretty surprising to see that in every big apartment building, literally every single apartment has air conditioning. Guess they really need it when it’s this warm!
So, turns out everything here costs a bit more than I thought. Quite the surprise! The metro, though, seems reasonably priced, which is a small victory, I guess.
Anyway, I needed to sort out a train ticket to Guilin for tomorrow. Simple enough, right? Just pop to the railway station. Except, apparently, “the railway station” isn’t a single place here – there’s more than one! Finding the right one is going to be a whole new adventure, thrilling! Also, adding to the excitement, all the sleeper tickets were already gone, so I’ve got myself a lovely seated ticket. Should be… cozy for 20 hours or so.
The hostel booking situation in this city is really stressing me out. I’m sincerely hoping it’s much easier to book accommodation in other cities. Honestly, it’s making me feel a bit homesick.