Shanghai is MASSIVE. With a population of over seventeen million, this city alone has more people than most countries. Of course skyscrapers are everywhere, and like seemingly every other city in China, construction is rampant. But this is truly an international city, it still is China but not in the way some might imagine. Shanghai was just a small fishing village until the mid 19th century when foreign concessions were given. It then went on to outdo Hangzhou and become a huge port, and eventually became China's economic hub. I took a bullet train from Hangzhou to Shanghai and damn was it fast! Only took a little more than an hour to reach. Frustrations mounted when I left the station however, my favourite part of the China experience. Luckily some passerby who spoke quite decent English ... read more

I was informed by Fabian that a friend of his had found out a Chinese movie production needed some foreigners as extras. We both jumped on the opportunity. I left with him on the morning of, we arrived at the rendezvous point to be picked up to the set. A few of Fabian's other foreign friends met us there as well. We were taken to the outskirts of Shanghai where we arrived at the premises. We drove past different sets such as modern buildings, Chinese gardens, bamboo forests, obviously many varied movies were shot here. Our set modelled an American town sometime during the 19th century, some buildings looked authentic whilst others looked like crap. American flags were hanging from many of them. Some of the signs hanging from them were laughable as well. There were ... read more

Nanjing, a former capital of many dynasties, as well as southern capital of a once divided China, lies along the Yangtze River and is one of the more important cities near the coast. The name itself means south capital (as opposed to Beijing meaning north capital) and is a very clean and attractive city. Visible pollution seems limited here, especially compared to cities like Chongqing and Wuhan. Luckily for me, it turned out to be a more or less friendly pedestrian city. I'm noticing that the closer I get to the east coast the more expensive things are getting. Also, in terms of currency, I'm now getting 1 Yuan coins instead of the note that I'd become accustomed to. More and more people seem to be able to speak at least basic English as well, and ... read more

Xi'an is one of the most important cities in China in terms of historical significance. The city is three thousand years old and was the capital for a thousand years, under thirteen dynasties, and has an abundance of relics to discover from those ages. The famed silk road ended its eastern stretch in this city, making it a huge trade city as well, and as such also led to not only material goods being traded but also much knowledge and belief systems. Chinese Bhuddism in its current form owes much to the route. Xi'an also has one of the biggest, impressive, and complete walls compared to other Chinese towns (see a trend starting to form here). Arriving at around six AM at the north train station, the old city walls greeted me. From there I headed ... read more

I left Yunnan province and then arrived 25 hours later, via sleeper bus, into Sichuan province, or more specifically Chengdu, a beautiful city and home to five million. The bus stank of feet and I was happy to escape its cramped confines. Walking through the bus station, I felt I was getting a handle on travel through China, just took more practice than many places. I had an address for Sims Cozy Hostel, and after figuring out the bus route, I was on my way. After checking in, I first explored the hostel, which in itself was quite big and had excellent facilities and friendly staff. There was a dvd room, book exchange, games area, mini gym, good food, basically a nice place to arrive after a draining bus journey. I walked Chengdu soon after and ... read more