The Third Strike: Shanghai, China!

Was I dreaming? No, I wasn't because that same entrance had been the same I had mistaken for my accommodation in Shanghai during June 2015! This 'Third Strike' experience in Shanghai took me back to the beginning with a smattering of something new, I felt lucky! The crowds looked the same but things hadn't half changed! Bringing it back around once again felt correct! 

My 33rd birthday in 2023 had been chaos, I wanted to do less but experience more for my 34th birthday in 2024. A weekend to Shanghai sounded like the perfect tonic to soothe my post-National Day blues because the openness of Taipei, Taiwan had set me free like a bird! After finishing another working week, I made my way from school to the train station but delusion had hit me! I thought it was clever to pack my bag before leaving not that much time to spare, I was playing with own time! First class felt good, those three cans of Heineken felt even better as I finished them simultaneously! I ordered my first fast-food meal on a China High Speed Train, it was delivered to my 'first class seat during the '杭州东站/Hangzhou East Station stop without any delays. I hadn't properly stayed in Shanghai since I first arrived in China back in June 2015, with a shorter travel time than before, I made that much needed trip happen! '上海虹桥站/Shanghai Hongqiao Station' grew nearer, I was so ready for that arrival! Let's get it, 上海市!

Arriving into Shanghai felt great, I was able to transfer to the 'Shanghai Metro' with ease. Heading into the city took a little bit of time because Shanghai is a city of gargantuan size, I embraced that reality. Arriving at my chosen station on Lines 10/14, I was able to find my hotel with ease. I wanted to stay in a hotel that was miles apart from my original Shanghai accommodation, first of all I knew that I wouldn't be staying in no hostel like before! My chosen room at Jinjiang Hotels own 'Metropolo' branch, it looked much fancier than the usual 'Jinjiang Inns' that I had stayed in during countless China based trips. I was getting some kind of feeling that I had walked up those stone steps before? Yes, I had when that former June 2015 airport transfer tried to drop me off at that 'random' location! I felt like that return was more than just a weird coincidence, that eventuality was meant to be! After working all day and then travelling to Shanghai, I was ready for my bed! You know that I had a busy Saturday planned! Let's sleep! 

Waking at a reasonable time the following day saw me heading towards success in Shanghai during that Saturday morning! I took the metro to an area within the former 'French Concession', I wasn't hung up about seeing the famous 'flat-iron' building because I didn't want to be confided to any landmarks. I loved what I was being served, I strolled along those 'European looking' streets with those period houses looking mighty fine. That's the one thing about Shanghai, I always feel a sense of home during my visits due to the architecture! I saw several food spots but I couldn't decide, a decision was made but you'll need to head over to 'Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner' to get the full serving dished up! I stopped clock watching because I knew that I needed to embrace those streets properly! I appreciated that Saturday morning like never before! Did I feel part of the Shanghai crowd? I embraced that boujee location with all of my might, I definitely see myself living there one day! Oh, how rude of the morning to press on!

Amongst the coffee shops and bars, I was able to walk through a very different area, a village of some sort? Yes, going by the name '四明村/Siming Village', I was right! From every angle I was being a piece of Shanghainese history, with hanging cables and almost 'back to back' dwellings had retro charm. Now, you already know I wanted to give my loft apartment up for one of those 'rabbit warren' style places in a second! Where was I even walking towards? I actually didn't know where I was heading towards! Breakfast, that was! Getting lost to find myself in that village situation made me forget that I was in one of China's biggest cities, now that's what I call a Saturday morning! Those low hanging wires and period brick features almost reminded me of those alley housing projects that I clocked during my first ever visit to Shanghai in June 2015. Getting back onto the metro needed to happen, I had more to discover and you know the city wasn't going to wait for me to make those decisions! I wanted to embrace some ' SH park life!' 

From '人民广场/People's Square', I took the metro to '大世界/Dashijie' on Line 8 because I wanted to go back to where it all started! Now, I wasn't ready for the closed store fronts because I wanted to see the China Mobile store where I bought my first ever Chinese handset, that was some memory! I really thought it was quite spooky that even though the empty stores looked barren, I was able to visualise what they once had looked like whilst I was there in June 2015. I was looking for '永寿路/Yongshou Road' because that's where I stayed at the formerly named 'People's Square Hostel'. Yes, I was high on something because I had decided to book a hostel for those first nights in China. Not that hostels are bad but this one really didn't cut it for me, I found out the hard way that I had good reason to have trust issues with hostels from there on. Located next to a wet market that sold raw meat, you can just imagine the pungent aromas I smelt during those first nights. I made a choice that I would never forget, ever! Such a choice! 

I don't regret booking that hostel because it forced me to check hotels more carefully in the future. In the here and now, I had made a stellar choice with my Shanghai accommodation and with it being just around the corner I was about to get a nice shock! As I walked past that founding hostel, I felt rather accomplished because over ten years had passed since that moment, give or take a few months! My life stood in a different place and I had seen a lot of life in China, I had done well from those first nights around that street with my first food order made in Chinese! It was crazy when I walked up to the main road, I saw that almost everything had changed, nothing remained the same beyond that mentioned street. That was when I saw that we must all move on, that we must all progress, to innovate. Was that my hotel on the corner of that road? There I knew I had made the right choice to see something from before and present day. I thought about the final part of my afternoon. I should head towards? Yu Garden?

My then 'newbie naivety' led me to believe that the shopping complex I went to on my final night in Shanghai in 2015 was the famous '豫园/Yu Garden. I had merely got myself entangled with a 'replicate' shopping complex, I didn't have a clue and to be honest 2024 me wasn't mad at 2015 me! I headed from 'Great World' near my hotel to the previously mentioned 'Yu Garden' where I benefited from its own metro station, now that was some progress I could celebrate! I took my time, I wanted to soak up those memories, I remember trying to find a dress shirt for my then training week. Did I find a dress shirt near 'Yu Garden?' Did I heck! I actually found one on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street but nowadays I go to 'Uniqlo' for everything! I had a little look a some souvenirs for my students, I used my Chinese language skills to ask for the price but really I wasn't impressed. I got the vibe foreign tourists were about in that area, I wasn't about to be conned! Was I about to head in a circle? Yes, I saw the same park that served me tea! Bamboo! 

Bamboo? Yes, I was referencing the 'bamboo garden' that surrounded me as I had my first cups of Chinese tea in China. I loved getting those flashback moments for free, it was priceless. Walking away from 'Yu Garden' allowed me to make a circular discovery before I headed back to my hotel. I saw that a whole street of 'Old Shanghai Style' buildings had all been boarded up, it looked very dystopian indeed. I really didn't know what to make of it, I really didn't! The Bund popped out from nowhere but I had no desire to see the waters of the Huangpu River with such bad fog. I decided to walk back to my hotel with an unplanned stop at a bar for a 'High Ball', now after that drink there was no going back from that point! I had to conclude my Shanghai day of re-discovery because the liquor had hit my lips, I got myself ready for the evening. Now, that day in Shanghai taught me to embrace change and be grateful for things that weren't so pretty to begin with. I'll forever be thankful for that day out, it was what I needed. 'Third Strike' is done! 

Never Forget! 

Desperately Seeking Adventure