The last stop...
in China, Tianjin. Managed to make my way through it without eating anything too scarring, so that's a plus. I'd never heard of Tianjin before Skyscanner advised me to book my flight out of China from the airport, so didn't know what to expect. Turns out it's the 14th biggest city in the world by population, so it has that going for it, I suppose. Only two nights on the cards, basically 1.5 days, so a pretty short stop.
As per usual, I made my way to my hostel, the final stereotypically named one for this country - Baitao Wulong International. Only problem was I hadn't a notion where exactly it was - after getting in touch with the hostel via WeChat (the government approved WhatsApp type app), I realised it was in this building:
On the 12th floor, I managed to get myself checked in with the help of Google translate, and made my way to my room. I was greeted by two Chinese lads playing World of Warcraft, or something like that, on full volume. It was evening time, so no problem for now. They however didn't leave the room for the two nights I stayed. So that was a bit of a problem. I swiftly made an exit and went for a wander around Tianjin as the sun was setting.
I stopped off for a beer at this dodgy looking shack, home of WE Brewery, and was able to speak some English for the first time all day. Just the one, as it wasn't what I wanted to do with my evening.
Tianjin at night seemed to come alive, and looked a bit more impressive than the grey concrete jungle I'd seen on the way to my hostel earlier that day:
I'd a few mundane backpacking things to do the next day, so an early night was had. All my laundry was top of my list, and that was done in the morning, so I decided I'd be brave and try and get my hair cut at a local barbers.
I read a few online guides of what to ask for, and felt I was set. All was going well, until after leaning my chair back, the barber took a straight razor to my forehead and proceeded to shave my forehead, taking my hairline back a few millimetres - a few important millimetres. Panic ensued. After trying to tell him to stop via Google Translate, I realised the damage was done. Not looking forward to any photos for the next while.
After getting over the trauma of that experience, my last night in China was before me. I decided enough was enough, and no more Chinese food for me. It's not my thing, never was, never will be. A thai red curry, at YY Beer House (I swear I only had food), that pretty much wiped the floor with any Chinese food I'd had was like an ambrosia of sorts:
And with that I then returned to the hostel to pack up all my things in preparation for my flight the next day.
My final metro station in China:
And my final goodbye from the Chinese air traffic control:
Dani will be back involved (thankfully) from here on out, as we meet back up in Tokyo in two days. Expect better pictures, less waffle, no pictures of beer, and all round more wholesome content in our posts.
For the last time,
Big love,
Stu.
Currently listening to:
in China, Tianjin. Managed to make my way through it without eating anything too scarring, so that's a plus. I'd never heard of Tianjin before Skyscanner advised me to book my flight out of China from the airport, so didn't know what to expect. Turns out it's the 14th biggest city in the world by population, so it has that going for it, I suppose. Only two nights on the cards, basically 1.5 days, so a pretty short stop.
As per usual, I made my way to my hostel, the final stereotypically named one for this country - Baitao Wulong International. Only problem was I hadn't a notion where exactly it was - after getting in touch with the hostel via WeChat (the government approved WhatsApp type app), I realised it was in this building:
On the 12th floor, I managed to get myself checked in with the help of Google translate, and made my way to my room. I was greeted by two Chinese lads playing World of Warcraft, or something like that, on full volume. It was evening time, so no problem for now. They however didn't leave the room for the two nights I stayed. So that was a bit of a problem. I swiftly made an exit and went for a wander around Tianjin as the sun was setting.
I stopped off for a beer at this dodgy looking shack, home of WE Brewery, and was able to speak some English for the first time all day. Just the one, as it wasn't what I wanted to do with my evening.
Tianjin at night seemed to come alive, and looked a bit more impressive than the grey concrete jungle I'd seen on the way to my hostel earlier that day:
I'd a few mundane backpacking things to do the next day, so an early night was had. All my laundry was top of my list, and that was done in the morning, so I decided I'd be brave and try and get my hair cut at a local barbers.
I read a few online guides of what to ask for, and felt I was set. All was going well, until after leaning my chair back, the barber took a straight razor to my forehead and proceeded to shave my forehead, taking my hairline back a few millimetres - a few important millimetres. Panic ensued. After trying to tell him to stop via Google Translate, I realised the damage was done. Not looking forward to any photos for the next while.
After getting over the trauma of that experience, my last night in China was before me. I decided enough was enough, and no more Chinese food for me. It's not my thing, never was, never will be. A thai red curry, at YY Beer House (I swear I only had food), that pretty much wiped the floor with any Chinese food I'd had was like an ambrosia of sorts:
My final metro station in China:
And my final goodbye from the Chinese air traffic control:
And I'm on my way to Tokyo, where I'll finally be meeting back up with Dani after a month on my own! Very much looking forward to it - a real spanner in the works, but we made it through the month just fine. China was great in some ways, and not so great in others. Am I happy I went? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to other people? Yes, with caveats. Do I think there's better places to travel alone? Most definitely. It's just not quite set up yet for international tourism yet (in my mind), there's a few barriers that just make it a little more difficult to...fully enjoy, than say Vietnam. It's also a little pricier than I imagined, which didn't help (Still cheap, but similar to say Spain or Germany prices). The Great Wall though really stands out as an absolute highlight of the trip.
Still, each part of this journey will provide its pros, cons, lessons, and learns - and for that, I do feel I've taken away quite a lot from my time in China, but I'm looking forward to moving on.Dani will be back involved (thankfully) from here on out, as we meet back up in Tokyo in two days. Expect better pictures, less waffle, no pictures of beer, and all round more wholesome content in our posts.
For the last time,
Big love,
Stu.
Currently listening to:
Don't get it Stu. Looking at the blog, China, paved roads and footpaths, skyscrapers, well dressed people, why no human rights? Also, that fuckin wall set a dodgy precedent. Was there some Chinese Netanyahu or Trump a thousand years ago? A new version could be the future. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. :)
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