Note from the train - Hi everyone thank you all for signing up for this, this is a shorter first one but I’m going to try and do it every week (maybe a couple of times a week if it’s busy!) and update you all on what I’m up to. As this is the first one the formatting may be slightly off but rest assured I will learn and would love to hear suggestions. I wanted to do it chronologically but as two weeks have already gone I will try to include them as I go along in the future. Cheers and hope you are all well!

16 days in China…↗

I’m writing this just after having been in a robo-massager chair for the past 45 minutes, my back hurts and my body feels bruised. How can I complain though, a 45 minute massage for 19 Yuan (£2) not really too sure what I expected.

These past two weeks in China have been full of experiences that would have usually tested me massively but I seem to feel either very relaxed or slightly out-of-it constantly which may not actually be a bad thing in this case.

Nevertheless, there have been glimmers of normality (or at least what I remember of it), I’m on my way back.

People here are genuinely friendly and other than trying to sell stuff to you do seem to be actually interested in you as a person. The cities feel very clean and organised but still have a character, ambience and energy.

I’m currently in a place called Emeishan, we hiked up Mt. Emei today but the weather was so shite that we couldn’t see anything…

Lots of people seemed to be pointing at my shorts as I was the only one in them and baffled the poncho sellers, it was rainy yes but also 15 degrees and the skin is the most waterproof thing I own so may as well use it.

Just an example of people being interested, we met some people on the hike up the mountain today, two Chinese university students from the north who were also on holiday around China. As we got on so well (and they were the only respite from the rain) they took us to a local restaurant where we had some very spicy eel meat and eel bones along with some ‘tea wine’.

Here comes the difficulty we have encountered so far in our travels… When trying to pay back the two for the food we found that international cards were not accepted in the Alipay infrastructure (basically Paypal) and the only agreement we could come to was to buy them a size of duck at the side of the street that added up to the amount we owed them (122 Yuan).

In fact this Alipay concept was so bizarre to us that upon the first day arriving in China, we headed into a reputable looking coffee shop (Luckin Coffee), walked up to the counter and asked for a Cappuccino, only to find the barrister in bewilderment for two reasons, a - we were not Chinese and b - we were actually trying to order by speaking to them! It turns out the way you order everything is through Alipay and to do that you have to go up to the counter, scan a QR code, navigate a page full of characters and purchase a coffee. The first time we set this up it took at least 30 minutes, one of us on the page and the other on Google translate.

However, once set up, Alipay genuinely works very well (apart from paying individuals, when one has to resort to duck bartering), it keeps everything centralised and becomes very easy to pay after some practice. The only resorting problem being an internet connection and a charged phone to pay for anything. Fortunately, where there is not 5G, there is wifi and where there is wifi the password is almost always ‘88888888’.

Interestingly, the only thing that is not online is attraction and transport tickets, everything is done through your ID card or, in our case, our passports. All the tickets are attached to your ID and therefore when going to anything as simple as a museum or 5 minute train ride you scan your passport at the ticket barrier and proceed.

There is so much more to talk about (especially with transport) but I have an early train and so shall leave you with some pictures, my album of the week and a thought.

Thank you for reading :)

Side note from the train - just as I was finishing writing this up a random guy approached me, pointed at a rock in the hotel lobby and put his thumbs up ‘hao’ then pointed at my armchair and put his thumbs down ‘bu hao’. He then tried to explain to me in a combination of Mandarin, Korean and Japanese that it is better for the body to sit on a hard surface, I then had to try and explain back that my body really hurt from the massage chair and I needed something soft. Eventually, with the help of translate, we ended up talking for close to an hour about all things China and travelling, his wife then came down to the lobby and we talked some more. I think this is just a perfect example of what the people are like, really and genuinely interested, always giving helpful advice and trying to teach me some Chinese.

Thought↗

Part of me wishes I could start life again, I haven’t made any major mistakes but I feel like im constantly thinking about the past and therefore tripping up the present and then future. To almost compare it to a game it feels like I have gone through a level without collecting all of the coins and can’t go back…

Album of the week↗

Galore - Oklou

Bandcamp Link

A really chill and ethereal album from French cloud-ambient-house(ish) singer. Was a big fan of Choke Enough by her and this earlier album is even better in my opinion, it really takes you through a unique soundscape and ends with a very creative and unique track. Highly recommend listening to it in one go with headphones (maybe in a robo-massage chair as well…) The anniversary edition also contains my favourite track by her (asturias - long version), a really nice sounding track.