Shanghai

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Two days after we left Osaka the ferry arrived at Shanghai. Customs here was much less hassle than id expected. Finding the Metro line wasn’t much difficulty either but it was an eye opener. Compared to Japan, China isn’t just a different country it’s a different world altogether. Even during rush hour in Japan people will be allowed to alight from the train before the charge begins and then the station porters push people inside so the doors can shut, in china as soon as the doors open people charge the train creating a bottleneck, it’s as much a struggle to get on as it is to get off, some guy didn’t just push me aside he body slammed me into the of the train, I got him back and good. Along our route I just observed passengers and its stunning, one guy leant forward to collect his bag and was getting ready to exit at the next stop, one woman saw this and edged ever closer. When the train was slowing down she had turned with knees bent, almost sitting on the guys knee, he had to edge out past her. It was a fun introduction to the country.
Id booked my first night in china well in advance and the place I stayed got decent reviews, was within a few stops of the centre and was cheap. It was god awful, it was clean enough but it was on a street that at night has a carnival atmosphere, which I’m sure is fun, just not when you haven’t slept in two days on a ferry and exerted yourself on travelling through another country. I got up to watch the drag racing mopeds - whatever floats your boat I suppose. The best part came the following day when the hostel tried to keep a part of my deposit and after spending 5 minutes trying to explain the error was on the person that checked me in not filling the receipt properly I resorted to showing them the booking including the deposit online and their own instructions. It was only at this point that I realized the room id booked was supposed to be a 4 bed dorm with ensuite (I thought id treat myself as id been used to 8 and 16 bed dorms), when I checked in I was so eager to explore my surroundings and too tired to recall booking details - my bad! The hostel put me in a 10 bed dorm, once I had the receptionist admit the balls up was their fault I had a go at him for the room they put me in-I didn’t expect anything back. I should have realised sooner, plus that’s not how it works here anyway. I just wanted to cause him so due grief!

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