Return to China - Part Three

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Day One: The taxi ride to my new hotel took about 40 minutes and since it was the tail end of rush hour we got stuck in the traffic on the motorway quite a bit. The funniest sight was an ambulance pulled up in the middle by the bollard where the slip road veers off from the main highway. It seemed like a odd place to stop. I just hope he figuring out his journey and nothing more serious was going on. My taxi driver couldn't find my hotel as where his GPS guided him to was a random place. I didn't have the language skills to help him and my phone was out of data. Luckily, there was some kind of policeman (China has a few different types of police/security and I don't know the differences between them even after reading about it many times) chilling on his motorbike and he was able to give us directions. We were only a couple of streets away. Once paid up and sorted, I headed over to the hotel to check in.

I needn't have worried about being so early as I was able to check in and go to my room straight away. The check in procedure was a bit more involved as the receptionist needed to check my release papers from quarantine, my green code for Shanghai and something else on the mini program. It was a good job I had been able to find the info on the internet to set up m Shanghai green code. I did it on Alipay and this seemed to be the easiest way to do it. I was actually surprised when I did it yesterday that I was already green. I presume it was because my PCR test had come back negative. I also got my temperature checked. The receptionist also explained to me that someone from the hotel would be in contact with me to sort some stuff out. I love how good translation apps work here.

Well my new room isn't as nice as my other one. The floor has definitely seen better days and it's pretty dark. However, there is plenty of space, decent lighting in the bathroom and I've got a pretty cool view. I look onto a side street and the buildings are pretty old and small. I love looking out and seeing the people across the way's washing hanging out. One flat has some bird cages hanging outside and I can here the birds chirping away, it makes a nice break from the traffic noises. Once I got settled I finally had my breakfast, although it was more like lunch now. Not the best as it was freezing.

I spent most of the day chilling. The person from the hotel texted me loads of information, the name of the clinic I had to go to the next day and some directions. The staff also set up my health cloud so that I can receive my tests results electronically, meaning that I don't have to go back to the clinic to collect them. The staff here are super helpful and really polite. When I got hungry, I ordered some take out. There is so much choice, but I went for an old favourite porridge with minced pork, vegetables and century egg, and pickled vegetables, you tiao, and dumplings. You would think I would be sick of rice porridge after having it for breakfast everyday, but honestly I can't get enough of the stuff. The food arrived pretty quick and was nice and warm, and filling. Since I had to be up early the next day, I had an early night.

Day Two: I had to get up nice and early to go for my day 16 PCR test. The clinic wasn't too far away and I got the subway there. I'm not sure if the guards really check your green code as I had mine up on my phone and I'm not even sure he glanced at it. The subway was pretty quiet seeing it was early on a weekend morning. I was a bit confused when I came out of the subway as it looked totally different to what my map app showed. However, the clinic was just around the corner and it only took me a couple of minutes to walk there. After showing the security guards my release papers they directed me upstairs to the PCR testing centre. It was only about ten to eight, but there was already quite a queue and the staff were already testing people. I had to scan a QR code and fill in some form. I think this is what had already been done for me for my health cloud. The girl in front of me in the queue was lovely offering to help me in English if I had any problems. The queue moved pretty quick and it was nice to get in the building as it was cold outside. I enjoyed standing under the heater. When I got to the first counter I had to scan my QR code and then hand over my release papers and passport. Once checked I got those back and a sample bottle with my details and bar code on. Then I had to queue up for the next window and get my nose and throat swabbed. Then out the door. It was all pretty quick and easy.

Since I had spent two weeks cooped up, I decided to walk back to my hotel. The walk would take me about an hour or so and give me a chance to reacquaint myself with Shanghai as the last time I was there was a good few years ago. I headed along the street that the clinic was on. I really liked it. It felt really old school with lots of small buildings only a few storeys high with shops, cafes and restaurants on the ground floor and homes above them. The pavements were also small and tree lined. It had a cute cosy vibe to it. As I got further along the street, it changed and there were large apartment blocks that looked quite fancy. I bet it cost a pretty penny to live there. I turned off Danshui Road onto Huaihai Road. I recognised this place as I had been a few years before as I'd met a friend in the area. This was a contrast to the small traditional street I'd just been walking along as this was filled with fancy malls and posh hotels. Since it was still pretty early on a Saturday morning, it was rather quiet. I walked along the street and it changed into Renmin Road. This end of the street was different as there were lot of boarded up buildings, which seemed to stretch all the way down the side streets branching off the main road. I also saw a few buildings getting demolished. Up ahead, I could see the Pudong skyline, another great contrast. I turned off on Henan Road and walked along that. It was a busy street filled with traffic and a few malls and smaller businesses. From there, I turned onto Nanjing Lu, which felt familiar as I have walked up and down that street many times on previous visits to Shanghai. I know it was still early, but I was shocked at how quiet it was, there had always been a sea of people on the street, when I'd walked along it in the past.

I stopped at the fruit shop on my way back to the hotel and then once back ordered some brunch. I decided to try Yang's Dumplings as it is famous in Shanghai for having really good sheng jian bao (pan fried filled buns). I really, really like this type of dumpling and I was really looking forward to having it. I ordered a set of four dumplings; two pork and two prawn and pork, and some fish ball soup. I didn't have to wait too long for it to be delivered and I was excited to tuck in. I think my expectations were a bit too high as the dumplings were nice but not amazing. Nowhere lives up to the greasy little spoon that I used to go to in Ningbo. Unexpectedly, I did really enjoy the fish ball soup. The broth was amazing. It was so flavourful and really comforting on a cold winter's day. The broth contained little salted shrimps, which I love.

I spent most of the afternoon relaxing. However, I did decide to go for another walk later when it was dark. I knew that I had to go and see the spectacular Bund as when it is all lit up at night it looks even more fantastic than normal. It really felt like I was back in China now. I also saw the Shanghai People's Hero Monument, which was all lit up in red. I don't know if this a new addition as I don't remember seeing it before, but I normally don't venture this far down the Bund. I had a good walk along, but stopped before I got to the really busy part. The views were spectacular. It was freezing though so I decided to make my way back to the hotel. I decided to head to the shop and get a sandwich for dinner. There was quite a bit of excitement as there were some fire engines pulled up at the end of my block. I couldn't see any fire damage so I presume that they'd got there early enough to deal with the fire quickly.

Day Three: I had decided to get up early to go for a nice early morning walk along the Bund. It was pretty easy to get out of bed, throw some coffee down my neck and then head out. I thought I had left it a bit too late, but the sun was still coming up. I got some magnificent views of the Pudong skyline with all the skyscrapers and the sun rising behind them. It was also pretty quiet, just a few people out for a morning stroll or jog. It must be nice to be able to come here every morning for exercise. I was also able to get a better look at the Shanghai People's Hero Monument. The obelisk looked better at night when it was all lit up red. However, I did enjoy looking at the murals that were in the area under the monument. They were in a circular shape and it was nice to observe the different people and scenes on them. I only wish there had been some explanation of who they all were, as I felt I missed out by not knowing who they were. I think there is a museum at the base too, but it was too early for it to be open. There was also a woman down there doing yoga, I love that people are able to find these quiet little spots to exercise. I took quite a long walk along the Bund and the cut back to the hotel through the Waitan neighbourhood. I love all the old buildings and like to imagine the past.

In the afternoon I decided to go for another walk. I had found a park on the map that was further along my street, over the river so I decided to head there. The walk took about 15-20 minutes. There wasn't too much to see as it was all office buildings, and shopping and restaurants. It was nice to see the sun starting to set, it was just a bit of a shame that there was a construction site in front of it. The park was pretty small and uneventful so I just had a quick walk around it before heading back. I did stop off at the convenience store to pick up a snack. I ended up with a peach mochi thing. It didn't look that appealing once out the box, as it looked like a spotty bum cheek, but it did taste pretty nice. Later on, I ordered some dumplings for dinner. I got a mixed set of some pork and some prawn. They were pretty tasty, but nothing special.

Day Four: Another early morning stroll along the Bund. I walked to pretty much the same spot I had the day before and soaked in the view all the way along. I don't think I will ever tire of these views. I cut back to the street I'm staying on and followed the same route back home. Since it was a Monday, there were more people about most of them heading off to work. I stopped at the convenience store to get some breakfast and also another bag of crisps. I have to reacquaint myself with all the weird and wonderful flavours that China has to offer. I got the Italian meat ones, which I always used to enjoy. Back at the hotel, I relaxed over my breakfast and then got on with some work I had to do.

After getting all my stuff done, I decided to head out for another walk. Of course, I walked along the Bund again, but this time instead of walking along by the river, I stuck to the other side so I could see all the old buildings. Most of them have heritage plaques on them so that you can find out who designed them and/or what they were used for in the past. It's at times like these I wish I could time travel so that I could see and feel what the area as like in the past. Sometimes photos just aren't enough. I cut in, away from the river, at Renim Road and skirted the edge of Gucheng Park. I had decided to head towards Yu Garden and City God Temple, not that I would be going in, but I have only been to this area once about ten years ago. There was a temple in the park that looked like it would be good to explore. I headed along the narrow street towards Yu Garden. I was surprised that it was such a narrow street, Anren Street, and that all the buildings opposite the gardens were derelict. The buildings were only two storeys and pretty old looking, they reminded of the buildings in Pingyao. I took a wander down the deserted streets. There wasn't really too much to see, but I still find it strange that a large city like Shanghai can have so many derelict areas. I think the area is probably going to be redeveloped. I saw a few eviction notices on some doors. It looked like it had been empty since last year. I would have thought that the redevelopment work would have started by now. There were a couple of houses/buildings that still looked like they had signs of life in them. Not what I had planned, but I enjoyed my little stroll through this abandoned neighbourhood.

I made my way round to the front of the Yu Garden complex. I love the traditional style architecture, and how well it is maintained as it looked immaculate. Since I wasn't going in, I just skirted the outside and had a walk in a couple of neighbouring streets. These were a complete contrast to the deserted neighbourhood as they were filled with commercial properties trying to extract money from all the tourists with lots of nice things on display. What I didn't realise was that I was actually really close to the start of the street I was staying on, so my walk back was a nice straightish line. I love looking at the old buildings, I really wish I could go for a look inside some of them to see what they look like, if they have been fully modernised or still retain some of their traditional features. Back at the hotel, I rested for a bit before deciding what to have for dinner. I decided on Chongqing Xiaomian (重庆小面), which is one of my favourite dishes. I found a couple of places and think I just went for the restaurant that was closest. I ordered the regular noodles and soup with a big portion of yellow peas/beans, and I always get a portion of the meat (杂酱, zajiang), which I love the taste of. The meat is cooked in spices and bean paste. I happily tucked into it all when it turned up. If anyone saw me eating it, they would probably think I was having a terrible time as my nose was streaming, my eyes watering, and the spices hitting the back of my throat made me cough, but I was loving it. I probably wouldn't look so bad if I didn't get the highest level of spiciness possible, but I really enjoy spicy food. The meal did not disappoint as it was really tasty.

Day Five: Another early morning walk along the Bund. Since I didn't really stop to take any pictures today I managed to get a big further along on my walk. When I'd had enough I headed back to the hotel via the shop to pick up some more water. I drink so much of the stuff and even though the cleaning ladies give me more (and extra) everyday I still get through loads. Once back at the hotel, it was time to order some brunch. I decided to get porridge yet again as I am addicted to the stuff. Since the order I got last time left me totally stuff, I decided to just get what I had the first day; porridge with minced pork, veggies and century egg, and youtiao, pickled veg and dumplings. Once again it was lovely and it was nice not to feel like I was gonna slip into a food coma after it. I spent most of the day pottering around in my room. I got on with some bits and pieces. I started to edit some of my photos I'd taken in Shanghai and I was surprised to see how many I'd taken over the past few days. I also finished my book and started another one. My reading is slowing down now that I can go out.

I was going to go for a pre-dinner walk but laziness got the better of me. Instead, I read and decided what to have for dinner. I found a place that looked nice so I ordered a bit of a feast form there. It also came really quickly, which is always nice. I had ordered a set of wonton soup, xiaolongbao, and fried egg, and this brown sweet and savoury bean curd. The wonton soup was fine, the wontons were nice, but the broth was a bit lacking and there were no sachets of chilli for me to spice it up. The xiaolongbao were really nice. They were pork but the meat had this sweetness to it, at first I quite liked it, then on my second dumpling I wasn't so sure, but by the next one I liked it again. The fried egg was bog standard, just cold. I had ordered the bean curd because a wonton place on campus used to do something similar that I loved. I don't know its name and I have never been able to find the exact same thing anywhere else. This one was okay. It looked like two burgers, the kind you would get for school dinner with very little meat content. The first one didn't taste the best, but the second one was better. It was savoury and sweet and not the same as the one I am searching for.

I decided to go for a post dinner walk and headed over the other side of the river. I took a walk along the river. It was a real contrast to the other side. There were lots of tall modern office block looking buildings and the streets were totally deserted. There were few people and barely any cars. I walked for a bit, but there wasn't really too much to see so I headed back. I had been walking in a straight line, but somehow veered off it and got a little lost. It was okay though as I had just wandered down a side street and soon got back to the river. I stopped at the shop for a beer and some chocolate. I ended up with Guangming beer, which I'd never had before. It was pretty decent. The sweet potato Snickers wafer on the other hand...

Day Six: I was nice and cosy in bed this morning and it was a real struggle to get up. I eventually dragged myself out of bed and had some coffee. I decided just to go for a shorter walk this morning. I headed along the Bund as usual. It was pretty hazy this morning, probably pollution. I still loved the view though. I like the differences that the different types of weather and times of day bring. On my way back to the hotel, I called into the shop to pick up some breakfast. Back at the hotel, I had my food and pottered on with some stuff I had to do. In the afternoon, I went out for another short walk. I headed up to the river and then instead of turning right, I turned left and had a walk along the river in that direction. There wasn't too much to see as this area appears to be mainly residential. I did cross some of the different bridges that spanned the river. Since there wasn't too much to see, I headed back via the shop as I wanted a sandwich. Later on, I ordered some Yang's Dumplings for dinner. I had a different soup that was nice. It was filled with bean curd, some of those fish balls, tofu skin, and glass noodles. I also got a selection of the three different shengjianbao that they do. The three flavours were pork, prawn, and crabmeat. The dumplings were better than last time and I really enjoyed them. The prawn ones were my favourites.

Day Seven: I was up early as I had to do my day 21 PCR test. As I was making my way to the subway station, I thought I better check my health code. It was orange, no subway for me. I had a feeling that would happen. The walk to the clinic takes about an hour, but as I was powering on it only took me about 40 minutes. I managed to get there about 8:10 am. The queue was a bit bigger than last time, but not too bad. I got checked in and had to fill in the form again, after I did that I didn't know how to access the QR code, so the bloke working the queue found got it on the screen for me. The queue moved quite quickly and it wasn't as cold as it had been the other day. Inside, I got checked in, was given my sample bottle, and queued up to be swabbed. The queue for swabbing seemed to be a lot longer than last time. I don't know if the swabber was working slower or the checker innerer was going faster. Anyway, the swabbing was pretty painless and took about a minute.

I had a nice leisurely stroll back to the hotel. I basically just retraced my steps. When I got back, I ordered some brunch. I totally get decision fatigue and wasn't feeling too hungry so wanted something that would be light but not have me feeling hungry an hour later so I decided to order from the dumpling place I had ordered from the other night. I like that this place gets the food ready quick and it is always delivered earlier than the designated time. I got the same order as last time; wonton soup, xiaolongbao, fried egg and bean curd stuff. I tried to translate what the bean stuff is but the translation came up as vegetarian chicken, which it mostly certainly isn't.

I spent the rest of the day pottering around. I had to finish my packing and I was praying that my case weighed less than it did on my previous flight as my domestic flight in China had a lower weight limit. I had eaten most of my snack, but there were a few additions to the case. I was also chucking out some of the clothes I had worn in quarantine as they were old and I had only brought them for that purpose. I decided to go for one last stroll along the Bund. I love seeing it lit up at night although the TV Tower wasn't fully lit up. I don't know if they do it at a certain time or only on certain days. The Shanghai People's Heroes Monument wasn't lit up either. The further along I walked the busier it got, so I decided to head back stopping off at the shop for a can of lager. Deciding what to have for dinner took a while and I ended up with a Burger King. It was alright and made a change from dumplings.

Day Eight: Freedom Day! I woke up early and the first thing I did was check my health codes. I don't know why, but Friday morning is the worst time to check. The Shanghai one took forever to load and the Guangdong one wouldn't work at all. Eventually, I got them working and both were green! All the stress was gone! I ordered some porridge for breakfast, I wasn't too hungry so left some of it. After finishing my packing, it was time to go. I made my way to the subway and got that straight to the airport. After showing my green code to the airport staff, I was allowed into the terminal. I found the check in desk and there was quite a queue. The queue did move quite quickly though. When I got to the desk, it took about 15-20 minutes to get checked in. I had to show so many things to the member of staff. I showed her my green Shanghai health code, green Guangdong province health code, my green arrow (I don't really understand this one, I think it is a nationwide thing), quarantine release papers, and recent negative PCR test. She also wanted my phone number and my UK departing flight number. It was quite a process.

I made my way to the gate, I forgot how strict security is, even for domestic flights. I had my thermometer confiscated, I had totally forgotten it was even in my backpack. No great loss. There was a 7-11 at the gate so I bought myself a cheap coffee and charged my phone at one of the power points. When we were called to board, I let the queue go down a bit before I headed to board. When it was my turn to board, I got the Spanish Inquisition and they wanted to see all my health codes again. None of the Chinese people boarding the flight were subjected to this. Because my phone is so crappy and slow, they wouldn't load and eventually the gate staff gave up and waved me through after I said I hadn't been anywhere other than Shanghai. It was a short ride on a mini bus to the plane. The plane, China Eastern, was all done up with Disney characters to celebrate some anniversary of Shanghai Disney. It was cute, but I didn't get any photos of it, which was a shame. I was a bit gutted to find that even though I was on a beast of a plane, 2-4-2 seats, which was practically empty, I still had to sit next to someone. Surely, they could have had more social distancing for anti social folks like me.

The flight itself was fine, it took about two and a half hours, was a little bumpy, but nothing too bad. There was no inflight entertainment so I read. We were served a small lunchbox which was okay. It contained a bottle of water, a banana, a little quiche, a cakey thing, and a bready thing. I was gutted to find that the pastry on the quiche was rather sweet. Thought it was too good to be true. When we landed, we had to do another PCR test. This meant handing my phone over to someone so they could fill out the bits of the form I didn't understand. The PCR test was quick and from there, I headed through to collect my luggage. I think my case was the last off the plane as I waited ages and pretty much everyone else had gone. Then before leaving the airport proper, we had to have our passports/ID cards scanned. Then it was onto the subway to start my next adventure.

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Photos

Cute
Food delivery bag

Peach Mochi
Looks like a spotty arse