At last, after months of anticipation and a 14 hour flight, I'm in Shanghai. The flight was not as bad as people think. There are individual screens right above each tray. That was super cool because the choices were endless. There were about 300+ movies to choose from, plus tv shows, music and games. You could even track the flight on there. That was amazing to see. We flew north over Canada then turned right over the arctic, headed south over Russia and into China. It's so strange to look out the window and see clouds below you. We kept ahead of the darkness so it was always bright outside. I kept my window closed, opening occasionally to see what was out there but the sun was blinding and we were too high.
I should have slept more on the flight but that was where my greed came out. I wanted to watch movies and eat the food they gave us. lol. They fed us a lot. We got 3 meals plus snacks in between including ice cream! Because of all the beverages I had to use the bathroom like a billlion times. It wasn't too bad though. It's just hard to balance yourself in a tiny closet while squatting. lol. It was clean and didn't smell bad, but that didn't mean I was going to touch anything. I was seated at the window and there was only one person next to me so it wasn't too much of a bother. She was a nice older Chinese lady, upper 60s. She was very motherly, taking my trash to throw away and telling me where to visit in Shanghai. I hope I'm that lucky on the flight back. When I did finally look down and see China it was overwhelming. My eyes teared up. After so many years of dreaming I was finally in the East.
When we landed it took a while for the plane to get to to the gate and open the door. Then people were slow in getting there stuff and getting off the plane. I went through inspection where they look at your passport and visa and finally baggage claim. After you have to chose between 2 lines. Either you are declaring goods or not. I was randomly chosen and had to go through the declared goods line where they sent my stuff through the scanner...again. The one thing I know I’m going to learn on this trip is patience.
I finally made it out of customs and into a line where everyone has to walk through these railings. People were on both sides waiting. It was like walking along the red carpet. HA HA! My cousin was there waiting in the crowd to greet me. We took the Maglev train to the subway. Apparently it's one of the fastest trains in the world. I didn't notice a difference from the other trains I've been on but overhead there was an LED that displayed the speed. We hit 410 kilometers per hour. When we got off the subway we walked to his apartment. I bought a reusable pass and put 100rmb on it. I can use it on the subway and bus and in taxis. Pretty convenient.
The first thing that stood out (besides all the Asian people of course. lol) were the signs. Instead of English and Spanish, which is what I'm used to, everything is Chinese with a bit of English. Another is there is little to no interest in common courtesy. People cut you in line and push right by you without a word. It’s like being in New York times 10. The subway was immaculate and the streets are so clean. That was very surprising.
As soon as I got to my cousins apartment I hopped into the shower. (He has 3 roommates so I'll be using flipflops in there. ha ha.) Then I took a nap. He woke me around 8pm and we went out to get something to eat. My first Chinese meal. I had bbq pork and rice. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic. So I’ll go back and get that dish again. Lol. It was good. The rice was shaped into a heart. Very cute.
Currency exchange: $1US = $6.84RMB
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