Traveling the World

The best part about it is that you can be totally by yourself, or make new friends along the way. I chose to be alone the first day, until a Chinese man who teaches English at a local middle school stopped me in the street. He took me to the Site of the First Communist Party Congress and gave me some insight into China’s foreign relations in the 19th century. Afterwards we walked around before hitting the Dunkin Donuts! At DD, he gave me a jade necklace to thank me for spending time with him.

Travel Tips

• Whether you are traveling solo or in a group, when in China it’s best to carry tissues with you at all times, as most bathrooms do not have them. You can buy a pack of 10 for 3rmb. For a family, you can split them into 2 or even 4 pieces to make them last!
• Subway stations require a learning curve. I underestimated the Chinese ability to plan ahead. The signs are all in English and Chinese in Shanghai, but this is most likely not the case in most other cities!
• If sleeping on the bottom bunk, turn the zippered side of your bag facing away from the aisle, and push it as far back as possible. Every measure you take to deter thieves is a good one.
• Soloing by train? Befriend you car-mates and they might just look after your things when you are away.
• Don’t buy food on the train/plane or at the airport/station. Instead, buy it at a store nearby because it will be much cheaper.
• To avoid a bad night’s sleep on the train, put your most valuable possessions underneath your pillow.

The picture above is Shanghai’s Pudong district as seen from the Bund. The entire skyline was built within a few years! When you walk around the Pudong district you will notice this because this part of town resembles an American city that has been zoned. Commercial and residential are separated from one another in this district, whereas the Puxi district (north of the river) is much older and has many streets with shops on the first floor and people living above them (especially noticeable in the Old Town and French Concession areas). These older areas developed this way because this is the old European style of city planning, but the way Shanghai is being modernized puts this style to the wayside.

At the time of writing this monetary summary, the currency exchange was 6.85rmb to 1 USD

• Train from Wuhan to Shanghai: 260rmb ($38)
• Hostel, 3 nights at 30rmb: 90rmb ($13)
• Food: 224rmb ($32)
• Sights: 190rmb ($27)
• Misc: 150rmb ($21)
• Train from Shanghai to Wuhan: 270rmb ($39)

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Budget 2000rmb, Total Spent = 1184rmb ($170)

The pictures of Pudong in this article were taken by my good friend Simon van der Meulen.