China Adventures Pt. 1

Experiencing plum rainy season for the first time in Shanghai taken by me

Hi my tunes!!!/\____/\

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Sorry I didn't post last week. I was overwhelmed with having to make sure I had everything in order before I left for Shanghai last Friday. Howeverrrr I will be updating weekly now!!! I'll be documenting my journey in Shanghai for two months.

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Let's start with that plane ride... Like wow, 14 hours. Yea.. It's genuinely tough because it's not like a road trip where you can take breaks outside nor roll down the window. Not only that the entertainment center was in a weird position and the table was hidden in the arm rest. Luckily, I had an exit row seat so I could get up whenever I want to. Another plus had to be ordering a low lactose meal before i entered the plane. I never had to worry about eating cheese while eating. The meals weren't too bad either. Regardless I was already drained from the 7-hour flight I took earlier. The jet lag goes CRAZY... I still feel it after taking two separate naps yesterday and a full night's sleep. I fear I'll still feel like this tomorrow...

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By the time I got to the Pudong airport at 7:30am, I decided to take a Didi(which is the Chinese Uber) instead of waiting for a shuttle and leave with other international students by 2pm. Passing through customs was a breeze. Ngl, I was nervous I was going to be stopped because I was stopped in London, but I wasn't. I do have to say you have to come prepared. There are three big documents you need to have on hand: Chinese visa, admission letter from the university and your foreign declaration. I recommend printing out your admission letter and foreign declaration (you can complete this like a week before you leave and it's worth it trusttttt) printed out because sometimes the internet is spotty when you land. I left the airport by 8:30am. They'll ask you for both and it saves you SOOO MUCH TIME. The only reason it took longer than it needed to be was because I was waiting for my luggage and waiting in line to pass through customs. Btw... this is my first time ever going to China, so it was pretty ballsy of me to not take the

my DiDi trip w/ my amazing driver.

program shuttle. But like I said I genuinely did not want to wait almost 6 hours before I could leave the airport. My only options were to take public transport, an airport taxi or a DiDi. I opted for a DiDi AND IT WAS SO CHEAP. THE RIDE WAS ONLY $24 USD!!!!!! This trip on Uber would be a minimum of $75 without the tip. (╥‸╥)

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When I got to the uni, I actually got lost for 10 minutes and my google maps wasn't functioning because my VPN didn't work. I was walking in the rain while sweating buckets because it's like 85% humidity. I almost cried tears of joy after I entered my dorm room because there was AC.. Once I finished unpacking, I took a DiDi again to go to Aldi to find a towel, but I went to the wrong one. Someone also tried to scam me as I was leaving that Aldi and followed me until I got into my DiDi. By the time I got to Cloud Nine Shopping Mall, I was already overwhelmed. Imagine my surprise when I see the mall is 7 stories and there really isn't a map nor people to help u find stores. I spent 15 min calling my mom in awe, and then 45 min calling my cousin in distress because I got overstimulated by all the different themes/stores and stressed that I COULDN'T FIND MY TOWEL. I bought some necessary items at this Daiso like store and just headed out because I couldn't take it anymore. By the time I got back to my dorm I just slept. I couldn't take it anymore. I only got up to eat with some local students. ฅ^>⩊<^ฅ

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Fast forward to today, I woke up bright and early to go buy a phone. First, I had to find where to eat and fix my id. I headed over to the 7/11 and got this delicious beef pancake and a vermicelli noodle baozi.

the meat pancake in 7/11

I'm genuinely so glad the staff could understand my broken Chinese. I do have to say it was a huge culture shock to just see shooters out in the open right at the door. Like jump scare

( ˶°ㅁ°) !! After I left 7/11, I went to go fixed my card. Which didn't even need to be fixed because it was okay.... I just needed to use my new password... Either way, I rented a bike to go to the mall again, but a different one. In China there's just rows of bikes you can rent at any time. You just scan the QR code and go. It was a little scary to rent the bike because there wasn't any eng translation on the app, so I don't even know what I paid for. Either way I went to the mall, only to be ignored for 25 min by the staff at Xiaomi. Then when I left it started raining (·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ ) I lowkey almost started to cry. I only perked up when I got to meet all the cool and amazing students at the program!! We got Haidilao (you can get it in Chicago too) and it was soooo gooddddd. I ended the day with going to the mall again but with new friends and my roommate. We went to this super cool restaurant and bought the phone from Huawei. I'll end with some photos I took because Its 12:12 am Shanghai time and I need to wake up early on Tuesday. PS everything i wrote about took place in TWO DAYSദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ ) I'll be back with more news next week!

A picture from Global Harbor Shopping mall

The bikes you can rent through alipay and meituam

my new friends!!!!!

signing off(っ˕ -｡)ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

Sashis