Qingdao to Shanghai

Qingdao: The remaining days

Following our productive day we decided to have a drink the bar. We ate pizza, and started drinking, but realised that we could by a bottle of smirnoff vodka for 18 pounds (180 Yuan) so we did, and we got four bottles of orange and some ice with it! As you can imagin the humidity and the vodka were not a great mix, and we ended up singing along to a man playing a little acoustic set in the bar, and also having a silent rave in the hallway, after drinking for a while with Mr.Kim ( a lovely Korean man who was also staying in our dorm) and Greg (a french man trying to use his computer on the table next to us who we invited to drink with us!). I think we got to bed around 3am?
The next day we had to check out before 12 to move into another room, which was the next floor up. So we were both totally shattered and hanging, got into our room and it was a private dorm! So we literally slept all day long. Clare woke me up about 5pm. We went to a BBQ restaurant just down the road from the hotel and it was an experience. We took a wild stab in the dark as to what we were ordering as we only had pictures to go by, clare ordered what she thought was mussels but we don't think that is what they actually were. The "pork" was nice, however it could have quite easily been dog and i would not have had a clue! The previous night we had told Mr.Kim that we would go for a drink with him so we did, sat outside the hostel on the tinniest little wooden chairs with a lady that serves beer in a bag straight from the keg! Mr.Kim (who is a painter, poet and novellist and had written numerous travel books) invited us to Korea and to stay with him, saying that his daughter is very open minded... we wonder if he thinks we are lesbians! Had a pretty early night as the train to Shanghai was the following afternoon.

Shanghai: The first glimpse
We attempted to hail a cab to the train station the next morning, having little luck as usual, so ended up walking and getting caught in a massive downpour, so by the time we got to the trainstation we were soaked to the skin and dripping! We were wondering around trying to find the platform for a while, and Clare asked a young Chinese man, who responded with "can I help you my friends?" which was lovely! He showed us to the platform and made sure we got on the train ok! I accidently poked a woman in the eye with my bag strap whilst trying to find our seats, but didn't learn from that mistake and ended up doing it to the person sat behind her too!! The train journey was, again, fine and the second class soft seats were just as good as the first! We did have a massive moment of panic when the train kept telling us we were going to Beijing but it all turned out fine. We got to Shanghai... safe and sound, after a 7hr train journey.
The taxi rank at Shanghai Hong Qiao was a little more organised, and less of a free for all like the one at the airport, and the journey to the hostel was easy. Having driving through Shanghai at night as your first glimpse is pretty awesome because all the sky scrapers are lit up and it looks wonderful. Our hostel on the other hand... not so much. They might have a fancy rooftop bar but it cost an arm and a leg. It may have a fancy reception but you have to wear your shoes in the shower, take your own toilet roll and sleep under a towel on what feels like a plank of wood! The showers were that bad that I made a dirty protest and didnt shower for two days!

Our first day in shanghai was interesting. Our hostel was right by the Bund which is the famous Shanghai skyline. We refused to eat in the hostel because it was so expensive, so we went in the search of food, following the signs for the food quarter, but when we got there.... IT HADNT BEEN BUILT YET! So we were both absolutely starving, had been wondering round, were hot and bothered, so decided to jump on a bus... or three! Ended up in the middle of the suburban Shanghai (if there is such a place) with all the locals staring at us like we are aliens (which we are, if you check the back of the arrival card they give you as you fly into china). We got tempted to buy a scooter which would have cost us about 180 pounds but then we reconsidered after remembering the way people drive here! Its insane... a green man on a pedistrian crossing and a red light mean NOTHING here... especially if your on a moped! and they even drive on the pavement! Eventually gave up, got a taxi and ate at the hostel! We decided to attempt to find some bars later that night so bought vodka from the family mart next door and drank in the room. The hostel staff were very good and wrote the name of a street where there are lots of bars down in Chinese for us so we could give it to the taxi driver. Had no idea where we were going or what kind of place it would be but it was a little alleyway that had restaurants and bars scattered along the sides of it. We went into a bar called Rendezvous and there was a house band singing all the chart hits and everyone was singing and dancing along. We drank strawberry margaritas and danced with a lovely chinese woman who literally just copied how we danced! Met Noel who was orginally from Ghana but was living in America, and he took us to a couple of clubs. It was a pretty good night, but Clare wasn't feelling best and we got back about three. Clare took the role of captain chunder that night. We had cancelled our last night at the Captain hostel because it was really bad! and we were moving to rock and wood the next day.

Which is where we are now!

Big love xx