Shang-high I

Ok so now I'll finally put myself & my photos together and start to tell you about my trip to Shanghai. I already got back a week ago, and going through the pictures from there was strange because the whole trip feels very distant somehow, like I didn't even go there? Weird.

The flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai lasted only for two hours. The tickets were not exactly cheap - 220e return - but the airline obviously was. China Eastern Airlines has probably the crappiest airplane food I've ever seen. They also changed the gate in the last minute before boarding to another terminal, and the stupid shuttle bus took ages to arrive, so for a second I was really afraid I'd be late from my flight. But I am quite used to things almost going wrong and then in the end being all good, so no need to panic :P

Already at the Shanghai airport you'll notice how English speaking people are suddenly rare and precious, in Hong Kong everything is super easy comparing to the mainland. I took a night bus from the airport close to my hostel and then a cheap taxi ride to the hostel door. It was a huge help to have the instructions and address written in Mandarin, otherwise I would maybe still be wondering around the Shanghai streets trying to find my way to the hostel. I don't like arriving to a new place in the dark, because my orientation skills just suddenly disappear and everything seems threatening even if it would not be like that in the daylight. Rock & Wood International Youth Hostel was located in the end of a tiny, quiet street, and it seemed like it would be located in the fishiest neighborhood possible. But in the morning when I woke up to a school bell ringing and Chinese kids screaming on the football court, it didn't seem bad at all anymore. Everything looked totally different than during the night when I had arrived around 1AM.

The view from the hostel room window. Chinese kids playing under a Chinese flag - that's sure was an interesting
thing to see right after waking up.

Nanjing Road - the main shopping street

The first day in Shanghai I just enjoyed walking around by myself and exploring the city. After two months of such an intense student hall life and having people around you for 24/7 it was a great feeling to walk aimlessly for hours in a new city, with no reason to go anywhere specific. Being alone is a good feeling when it's one's own choice and I definitely needed it. During the evening it was nice to hang out at the hostel and talk to people I'll never meet again, and the second day I did the same stuff, walked around, had some delicious Shanghai food and took pictures. There's not that many famous sights to see in Shanghai, probably the Bund (the pier / the skyline) being the most well known. And I guess I'm already too spoiled by Hong Kong since after seeing the Bund my reaction was; "Is this it?" - the Hong Kong Island skyline is definitely more impressive...

Walking around Xintiandi

A tiny random sock shop

A tiny random remote controller shop

The Bund

On the right you can see an old watch tower that now works as a cafe / bar

On Wednesday evening Sandra arrived, and then we spent 4 great days in Shanghai. We took two massages, and I have to share our experience from the first one...

We walked on Nanjing Road and spontaneously decided to get a massage. The first place we saw offered a 60-minute foot massage for RMB58, and we took it. There was a sleazy guy on the front door who showed us the way to the massage place upstairs and where we sat down on very comfortable armchairs and ordered tea. All the time we thought there would be someone else to give the massage, since this front door guy was wearing a suit and he seemed more like a salesman, but no... Sandra was lucky to have a guy giving the massage who didn't speak any English, but this dude who was massaging my feet (and legs?? Since when has massaging thighs been a part of a foot massage??) in his suit was talking waaaaay too much. I felt super awkward sitting there and getting the worst massage of my life, when this Chinese dude is staring at me while massaging and saying very disturbing stuff like "You are very beautiful... You are very strong! I like your hair. Do you have a boyfriend?" and everything else that made me feel uncomfortable and weird. He tried to trick us to buy random extras the whole time, and when I didn't want any expensive oil on my feet, he started telling how much it costs to rent the building and blah blah blah. The time was going too slowly and I only wished the whole thing would end soon. When we were leaving and paying, this suit guy was literally begging for tips. First I said no but after some annoying pleading I felt too uncomfortable and told him to keep the rest of the money, I just wanted to get out as soon as possible. It was such a shitty experience that afterwards all I could do is laugh... How can anybody run such a bad business?

Couple of days later I got another, more expensive massage, but it was a very good, relaxing experience and worth every RMB I paid. So the lesson is: do not take any massages from slimy Chinese guys in a suit.