Thursday

Today was a long day of travel, after rising at 7.30AM we flew Guilin airport to Shanghai, then took a bus from the Pudong airport and arrived at our hotel at 4PM. In the afternoon we went to some markets in Yuyuan Garden, it was touristic but we had some fantastic food.

Then we took a ferry across the Bund. The skyline in Shanghai is jaw-dropping, and I felt a rush of that romantic travel feeling – being alive in a big city where life is happening.

Friday

I didn’t feel like joining the group activities today, as I was a bit tired of being on a schedule. So I went out on my own after sleeping in until about 8. I followed the activities on an itinerary sent by my friend Louise from Beijing, which mainly involved walking around some nice neighbourhoods in and around the French Quarter, stopping for coffee, food and browsing shops.

I ate (and spent) far too much at lunch, felt overwhelmed at Jing’an Temple, then walked some more, got a haircut, had more coffee, then came back to my hotel room to shower, do some pushups and get changed.

Now I’m off to Qibao ancient town on the metro, to meet up with the G Adventures group for our final dinner together.

It was a pleasant end to the tour. Hazel had to go to the hospital as she was sick so she missed the final dinner, but we got to have a final toast with the group, say thanks to our guide Howard and enjoy dinner together.

With the G Adventures part of this trio over, I’m inclined to reflect on what’s happened so far. Feelings bubble up to the surface, I’m probably a bit overwhelmed/overtravelled, and need a day or two of just doing nothing. These past few weeks have been incredible. So much has happened in such a relatively short space of time. Not necessarily hugely dramatic things. But we’ve just done a lot.

From having never been to China, let alone studied the country much.,I’ve since read a book on its entire history, seen Beijing, Xi’An, Chengdu, Emeishan, Yangshuo and now Shanghai. I’ve eaten more Chinese food than I ever thought I’d eat in my lifetime, sampled the beer and rice wine, seen many of the iconic cultural and historical landmarks/experiences, and rode on the high speed rail multiple times. Through this time I’ve gotten to know briefly a group of complete strangers from all over the world who I’ll probably never see again, and each had their own unique and interesting life stories. A year ago, Katrine was going through a divorce and cancer treatment! Dave had barely ventured out of Ireland and finally decided he needed to cross off some bucket list items.

It would’ve been easy to write these people off as uninteresting. But they, we, all are a small sample size of the human experience.

I’ve seen Pandas, climbed the Great Wall, seen the Terra-cotta Warriors, hiked temple-laden mountains in Emeishan, and passed out getting a weird and painful ear cleaning treatment in the middle of a busy market in Chengdu. How good!

It’s been 15 days since I arrived in Beijing. Travel is amazing how it expands life, even in the short term. It like when you’re editing a video on iPhone, and you hold your finger down on the time slider, and it kind of zooms in on the time, giving it the impression of expanding. That’s what travel does. It expands time, allowing you to fit in a whole lot more experiences. Every moment becomes novel, even just navigating the walk from the hotel to the metro station.

I doubt I’ll experience the same level of expansion in my final 13 days of this trip. But I wonder if there is a way. What if I was about to experience the most epic 13 days of my life? That would be cool. Chances are I won’t, but it’s fun to live wondering, and being open to the possibility of it.

I’ve come out to a moody cocktail bar because I get the itch. The itch of knowing there’s a whole mega city out on my doorstep, with over 20 million people in it. And just interesting things to see and notice. How could I possibly go to bed early and sit and do nothing in the hotel room?

I’m at Root Down, which reminds me of the Beastie Boys album. It’s actually quite cool, even though I’ve not spoken to anyone.

I think this trip has been better than Africa. Africa at times felt a bit dull if you weren’t on safari. The places themselves were pretty barren, especially if you went outside the big cities. A great experience nonetheless.

China on the other hand, is just an explosion of all kinds of experiences no matter where you are. They don’t do small cities. They have 1.5 billion people. I thought venturing away from Beijing would result in us ending up in some small places – we ended up in Chengdu which had 20 million people! As such, it’s always alive. Early in the morning, late at night. People everywhere, hocking and spitting, smoking, but friendly and welcoming. The food has been fantastic, indulgent, rich, always flavourful, and surprisingly never exceeded my appetite for chilli.

It’s safe, there’s no homeless people, and I never felt in danger.

So I spent a few hours at Root Down (the cocktail bar) slowly drinking, reflecting and typing this in my journal. I ended up getting talking to the guy next to me who, interestingly, works for TikTok and worked in Seattle for a bit. He’s from Shanghai and was there with his wife – he very kindly shared some tips for Shanghai. I only expected to go out for one drink and ended up staying a few hours, turning in back at the hotel around midnight.

Saturday

I’m a bit hungover, had a rough sleep because of the alcohol, and it’s raining.

Today I’ll take it easy, maybe spend it in a museum.

I walked a lot. Along Fuzhou Road, without really making it anywhere. I tried to get in to Shanghai museum but it’s booked out for the week, and it’s been raining all day, so I’m wet.

I sought refuge at Cafe Chez W, and the girl who works here is beautiful. It felt like an iconic moment as she sat by the window reading a book, it rained outside, and classical music played on the speaker. I think I’m too romantic for my own good. She’s not glued to her phone. Her English seems pretty good. I want to sit here and have coffee all day just watching her.

It’s making me feel melancholic. I feel like I might never find love. Never share tender moments with a woman I’m in love with. I want love to give me new meaning in life.

It’s funny how moods change all on their own. I’ve been at this place for a few hours now, just ordered my third coffee, and feel surprisingly upbeat compared to my recent melancholic state. The lesson? Observe emotional states closely, you don’t need to get involved, they often change all on their own, if you let them run their course.

Sunday

Yesterday I opened up a dating app, and got talking to a local woman. We hit it off (as much as you can on a dating app), and met up for dinner at Park Palace underground food court, then for a drink at a speak easy (I think it might’ve been called Speak Low). It had another hidden bar upstairs and we had a cocktail there as well.

Now I’m tired, and getting a bit frustrated at having to order through some of the Chinese apps. Something as simple as getting a coffee becomes complex, confusing and hard. It’s also raining, so my shoes are getting wet all the while I’m out trying to enjoy walking around. I think I’ll go to the museum and just camp out there for the afternoon, before coming back to the hotel for an early bed.

I ended up spending the whole day out, checking out the China art museum along the way. I also hunted down Madame Mao’s Dowry, and then sat in the hotel room with a cup of tea and some chocolate before getting an early (and much needed) night of sleep.

Monday

And I was out walking all day again. I went through the Bund, and opted to skip Shanghai tower as it was too cloudy. I darted across town to see the Propaganda Poster Art Centre, which was worth it. I bought an original poster and sent it home from the post office.

I stopped at more coffee shops, the highlight being Brew Island, run by an ex coffee competition judge. I then made it back to Frank’s Store to pick up a denim jacket, something I’d been thinking about for a while, then had a really nice dinner at a local restaurant I found on Dianping. I couldn’t really make sense of the menu, so I went with the lady’s recommendation and it was fantastic. Great way to cap off the night. I’m going to bed early as I’ll get up early tomorrow to visit Suzhou.