I have to mention at this point that the hostel in Shanghai was quite cool about practicalities and about their own policies. And they didn't have a single word when I arrived at half midnight instead of eight o'clock. But other than that the customer service was really shit, the hostel was dirty and didn't have any windows.

Next day I woke up around 15:00. I was more or less rested. My first thing was to find a shop and by some shower gel. I packed three mini ones in England but for the boarding of the transsiberian I lost all three.

I remember when we had a drug prevention talk in high school. The guy told us that heroin is like a constant orgasm diffused to the whole body. It wasn't the main thing that kept me away from it, but the expression stuck in my head and now I can use it to describe what I felt when I took a shower after 8 days, it was happening on the surface of my skin. On the train I "kinda" cleaned myself but it was only a tap.

I could sing while I was taking that shower it was so good, but wasn't gonna disturb my roommates. They didn't have such a concerns... They were singing all. I mean meowing is a better word for the sounds they made. I was really regretting not to sing. I tried to talk to them, but they hardly ever talked back. They had a "thank you very much, but I'm alright talking to humans in the upcoming weeks" attitude. They spent most of the day in the dark room and did stuff on their phones. Seemly they were just killing time.

I was still not ready for China so on first day I just got to the other side of the road to get some water and Oreos.

Second day:
I woke up around 10 , but because of the lack of natural light I felt like it was still night and I didn't want to make any noise, so I somehow wasted the first two hours of my day till midday. After that I went out for a walk just for wandering and absorbing the city. I took a few photos, but they aren't even close to give the feeling back. It isn't just that it was dirty. It actually wasn't that dirty, but the bad smells, the heat and frowstiness created a different benchmark for the streets.

An other benchmark of the streets were the traffic. It was amazing how efficient it can be when people approach it in a rational way, it wasn't the war of egos. Most of the vehicles were electric mopeds and bicycles,few cars, and few homemade uncategorizable somethings. People were constantly looking for gaps where they could get through. Traffic rules even for cars are more like just guide lines. Cars mostly just slow down by redlights. And people didn't care about eachother. They were like "do you know what is even more of a time waste than taking that stupid manoeuvre? Stopping and arguing about it." It was all about efficiency to the extremes. Couples didn't even walk hand in hand next to each other but in lines. I mean they did on the Huangpu river walk, but it is almost a designated hand in hand walking area.
After I had enough enjoyment in the traffic, I picked up some more Oreos and headed back to the hostel. On my way to my room in the hall, I heard two girls talking in Spanish.

- habla ingles? - I asked.
They did.
Bea was from Barcelona and Anna was from Madrid. They were traveling around China with trains. They were against the Idea of going to a Zoo in Chengdu to see a panda, because it is too touristy. But other than that their route were including mostly the major tourist attractions in China. They looked less culture shocked than I was but when I asked them what they usually eat in China, they said mango and banana mainly, and they also tried some dumplings, but they weren't taking more risks either. They were just about to leave for their train. So after I unwillingly confused them about their train station we cut the conversation short.

The same night I left the hostel to find the dumpling place the girls were talking about. I set down by the hall of the hostel and ate my dumplings. They had some minced meat inside, probably not cooked enough and when I bite them liquid was running out. It wouldn't be a pleasant experience by its own, but while I was eating I started to feel something ticklish on my feet. Looked down and it was a Chinese cockroach, size of a smaller rat. I tried to shake it off but the fucker bit me and I couldn't even have my revenge, it run away. My feet turned red and had a little swelling. At that moment, I really hated China. Went back in my room and started to browse Kiwi.com with my aching feet.
It was a hard one. I had non refundable tickets booked already, but I really thought that the negativities outweight the good stuff of China. I have seen it's technology, a cable bridge and experienced the traffic, but I didn't like the unfriendly people, the thick air, the food and the wildlife either (cockroaches).

My planning was interrupted by newcomers. We had two new roommates. They were from the Czech. Andrew and David were traveling with a 15 member group. (they had Czech names, but as experienced travellers they introduced themselves by their English versions). They came to China to perform some folklore dance. Even our conversation was really short it was nice to have a little back from what I know as civilization. That was everything I found out about them because they had to perform the next day, and went sleep early.

On the third day I got up at nine and wasted only about an hour before I decided to go out. For the costs of hard research I found a Xiaomi store in China. Xiaomi produces probably the best value/price electronics. So I wanted to buy an action camera.

Walking towards the store I've been caught in some light showers. I kept walking repeating to myself "it isn't a rain in England, it isn't a rain in England", but after a few minutes it turned to be something that even in the heart of England AKA Chester would be considered as a rain.

In China there's a convenient store at every corner and they have all sorts of products. I just realized the concept of small European Chinese shops. These shops are usually very stuffed with loads of products what noone would ever intentionally go in for. But when the stars meet in that certain angle and someone falls in the shop and asks btw don't you have this or that or umbrellas, they never say no.

I didn't have an umbrella for probably more than 10 years when we got one for free as a promotional gift from a construction of water purifier that we visited with the dorm. And I didn't have such a small umbrella since I was about 6. But it did the job so I kept marching towards the Xiaomi store.

As a result they didn't have the action camera, I still had the urge to do something useful. I decided to go to the train station and buy my ticket to Xiamen. The problem with these impulsive decisions is the lack of preparation. I didn't have my passport. I just realized this when I wanted to get through the identity check.
I wanted to give my ID card a try. For some reason in China plastic is more trusted than traditional things, in this case a paper passport, and they haven't even read it's back or anything they were like "you have a plastic card, you must be okay". After that I could purchase my train ticket only by showing a picture of my passport. They put my middle name to the place of my surname. I was really concerned about this because when I purchased my ticket from Hongkong to Guangzhou the travel agency stressed it a lot how important it is to put the name in the right order. She just waved about it like nobody cared unless I screwed up the passport number.

On my way back to the hostel I got off from the subway by Yuyuan Garden and just right after the exit a girl stopped me. She looked a few years older.
- you are no from here, I right? - she asked it in English.
- no, I'm not. - answered shortly.
- you look sooo young. - she stepped close pushing her body towards mine and stroked my face with her hand.
- come drink with me. - she continued.
- life is too short for bs, huh? - I asked.
- yes. What you say? Come! Come!
- My phone's dying and I rely on it too much.

I got back to the main road towards the hostel and start recognising buildings, I knew how to get back from there without navigation. I gave an other try to Chinese. The thing I had is kinda popular in Europe and in animes as well, but I never knew it's name. It was a big bowl of soup with all sort of things with rice noodles. I wouldn't have ordered a big bowl of boiling soup at the middle of summer, but the menu was misguiding and they didn't show the soup part.

Back in the hostel I met the Czech guys again. They didn't just perform in Shanghai. They performed in a Czech bar called Krajanek. They told me that the city has an other Czech bar.
- are you guys secretly colonizing Shanghai? - asked them.
After some jokes about the Czechs are being the Italians of Asia, they gave me some Czech lemonade. I really like drink and smoke when I have fags so I went out with my drink to have one and they said they will join me in a few min.

Outside of the hostel I found other smokers; Maja and Lenka - or as she accidentally introduced herself Emlenka (she was a bit too lazy to say "I am Lenka" and somehow it became Emlenka) - were also with the dancing group and from the Czech. While Maja had the impression like it took her a real effort and overthinking of talking to someone new. Lenka was just effortlessly floating on the conversation, and had a really chill vibe. They both had a clipper lighter.

Not much later other members of the group shown up for their late night cigs. And the conversation divided into small groups. I just realized that it was the first ever time when I heard people speaking Czech. It was really like someone had spoken a Slavic language with Italian accent.

Next day I went to see the market. Whenever I touched something, I instantly got approached:
- you buy this? Yes?! How much you give me?! Fittie? Okey? Twenny fife?
- I'm okay, just looking. - usually answered.
- feeteen? Okey ten? Ten good?
After I succeeded not to buy 50 kgs of shit I don't need, I tried to find out what the pearl tower is about - and I still have no idea. At the end of my wandering I had my first legit Chinese meal with rice and unrecognizable meat.

For the time I got back to the hostel, the Czechs were gone, but I had a new roommate originally from Taiwan. I can't remember his Taiwanese name I mostly called him Sam. He was working in a restaurant in Shanghai and was living in the hostel only because he closed himself out from his apartment and his family with the spare keys were on a holiday for a few more days. He was the first friendly local(ish) I met, but that time I was the one who had to go sleep early, because next morning I was traveling to Xiamen to find my relatives.