Shanghai-bound

by Matt Dela Peña

Pudong skyline

Shanghai—the world's most populous city and busiest container port; the PRC's principal financial center and Alpha+ global city; a rising hub of commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport.^[1] The list goes on and on. With so many accolades to its name, I was dying to go.

Luckily, we were scheduled to depart from Nanjing three days before we returned to the States. Our final days in China were to be spent in Shanghai so I was completely stoked!

Yet, I was also deeply saddened to leave our host city and all of the new friends we made at SEU. However, I knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before I'd be coming back to see everyone again.

And so, after the most bittersweet of farewells, we were off to Shanghai.

When we arrived at the Shanghai Railway Station, it was pouring. Rather than taking three taxis to our hostel like we had planned, Jeff and Nicole found a guy who insisted on towing us there with his small bus.

I say tow and small because our bodies essentially got as much room on the bus as our luggage. Granted we did not see the bus until after we agreed to pay him, but surely we wouldn't have taken it otherwise.

We did, however, safely make it to our hostel. Shanghai City Central Hostel. It's actually a really nice place save for their bathrooms. If I were to ever visit Shanghai again, I would stay here with its relatively cheap rates. But next time, I would bring a towel (unless you want to pay 30 RMB), shower sandals, and y.o.b. (your own beer)—you have to sneak that last bit in.

Amenities include a really chill bar/lounge area with slightly overpriced drinks (hence sneaking in y.o.b.), a pool table, and an adorable cat named Mimi.

meow

As soon as we settled in, Daniel and I discovered that we were, in fact, starving, so we made our way down to the lounge. Now, I'm actually starting to get emotional again as I write this, but their menu was the best thing we've seen in a month (other than the fact that we could actually read it).

You could definitely tell our appreciation for the local Chinese food when we pounced on their amazing American-style breakfast platter like a couple of hungry hyenas. We haven't eaten so well in ages.

Have mercy...