China (Shanghai & Beijing) Jan'09: an accounting

sunday-day 0
before leaving the airport, one has to pay the airport's terminal fee (php750) and the government's travel tax (php1620). as with other cebu pacific flights, the flight from manila to shanghai offered no free refreshments. one had to purchase from flight attendants walking across the isle pushing their cart. quite expensive though as prices would range from php80 to less than php200. these wouldn't be rice meals or dinners but just sandwiches, coffee, water, and some other snacks. most passengers brought burgers and rice dinners with them which they bought from the airport's dining area. we left manila around 8:30pm and arrived in shanghai between 11:30-11:40pm.

shanghai airport
15-20minutes before landing, the aircraft's captain greeted the passengers, shared the plane's speed and, relayed the distance from shanghai. around this time, most passengers started switching from flipflops to shoes, extended leg warmers from beneath their pants, and prepared their winter coats. we finally arrived at shanghai's pudong airport some time before midnight and were greeted with a temperature of -2degrees. (note: january is still winter in china. advised to bring layered clothing, caps, warmers)
as jub was only wearing a pair of shorts and a shirt when leaving manila, he had to half walk-half run towards the luggage conveyor, search for his suitcase, grab some pants, a jacket, and a cap, and rush towards the restroom. mark and i waited outside the restroom, surveyed our clothes wondering if we needed to wear more clothing, and watched as other passengers passed us by. when jub emerged from the restroom, only a handful of passengers were left near the luggage conveyor.

we then headed on to go through the usual airport security inspection. as my suitcase went through the security machine, i was asked to step aside and open my luggage. the female security personnel then asked me if there was a medicine bottle i was carrying. i said no. i showed her my mineral water bottle, a ballpen, a bottle of petroleum jelly, a concealer, and any other thing that was cylindrical in nature. mark was also asked to step aside. he ended up with most of his clothes left topsy-turvy. at this point, i ended up offering letting the luggage go through the security machine again so she can narrow down where to inspect. she waived her hand and eventually asked if the three of us were together. they asked where we were staying, some parts of our itineray, when we were leaving, and our port of exit. around this time i was starting to get annoyed. it's midnight, i only had a burger for dinner, it's freezing cold, we still had no chinese currency, they were speaking very little english, and there were no more passengers except for the three of us. the only thing keeping me from exploding was the knowledge that we were visitors and we were in a foreign land (aka, wala ko sa teritoryo ko. hehe).
they finally let us through after we confirmed that the 3 of us were travelling together. it's my first time to go through such rigorous inspection. they must've thought we were planting something in the airport while jub was wearing his pants in the restroom. for some reason, mark and i must've stood out like a sore thumb some time between baggage claim and security inspection. (lesson learned: when in a country where communication can be a barrier, it's best to keep a low profile and to blend in so as to avoid the hassle of getting into situations where you have to try to explain yourself and then try to understand what was actually being asked of you. sayang sa oras.)

so as to have transportation cash, we decided to have our cash converted at the airport's currency changer. (note: not advisable. the rates were lower in the airport 1yuan=php7.46. the guy also asked for commission 100yuan=php746. i had 2 transactions.for the commissin alone, i gave up php1490 of what i carried. haay..sa glorietta nga 1yuan=php6.52 ata wala pang commission. so kung 20k dala mo, instead na 3068yuan pera mo eh 2680yuan na lang. isipin mo na lang to on a grander scale. kaya pala namomroblema malalaking kumpanya kung bumababa halaga ng piso.)

we later found a shanghai map with english characters on one of the shelves situated near the landing of the escalator. it was the usual free map for tourists. with english characters but no chinese text. the option to follow other passengers towards the location of the airport bus was dismissed after we got stuck at inspection. we decided to take a cab. the trip from the airport to Beehome International Youth Hostel took 40-50min (197yuan=php1380)

Beehome International Youth Hostel
we had to pass by the same street 3-4 times just looking for the entrance of this inn. we entered a gate and then another gate before locating this inn. they then asked for our passports and we had to fill out a registration form of temporary residence. (note: check-out time is 12noon. we ended up getting charged an additional half day since we checked out in the afternoon of Monday even though we checked in around 1:30am on Monday as well. another thing, they missed to inform us that we had to check out at 12noon. we could've chose the option to check out at 12noon and just leave our baggage in their storage area. the toilet in our room was also not working well. there is no common area so no way to interact with other backpackers. no free breakfast. the room had 3 beds. rent=262.5yuan=1958php/room for 1 1/2day)

***check out hostels.com for recommended inns and places to stay. feedback from visitors, prices, availability of rooms can also be found here. we also made reservations using this site.

monday-day 1

People's Square and Nanjing rd
we started the day quite late. (note: before leaving Beehome or any other inn, remember to ask for a card from the inn. it would have the inn's address in chinese text. this would prove helpful since you could just show the card to the cab driver when returning to the inn.) the initial plan was to walk towards the locations we were planning to visit (nanjing lu, qi pu lu, and people's square). however, when we reached a major street, we realized that most of the places on our list were no walking distance from our inn. pushed by the freezing temperature and the distance of the places we had to visit, we opt to take a cab. we hailed a cab, showed our map, explained where we were going (driver did not speak english so he didn't understand the map), and headed on towards People's Square (17yuan=php127). the cab dropped us off in front of the Nike Shanghai shop. People's Square, however, was on the other side of the road. somehow, we just looked at people's square from across the road, felt the cold, got contented we saw it, and then decided to walk up Nanjing Lu. Nanjing Lu was a line of high-end shops. walking the entire road could easily take up 30-45min. (isa siyang mahabang greenbelt). we decided to have lunch and started looking for one of those authentic restos offering noodles. however, this proved quite a challenge in an area where most brands are imported. we saw kfc, zara, nike, jaguar, esprit and then decided to eat at McDonald's (value meal: 17yuan=php127) we then decided to secure tickets for the night's trip and so headed on to the shanghai trainstation to buy tickets bound for Beijing.

Shanghai trainstation
we took a cab towards the shanghai trainstation (15yuan=php112). this was different from the shanghai south trainstation which they said was also an architectural beauty. the cab brought us towards the basement. the basement had stores, clean floors, and a busy atmoshpere. we headed towards the escalator to reach the station's facade. facing the station, one should head right towards the ticketing area and look for window 43. you don't have to enter the building. this was located outside and it was the only english speaking window in the area. since most tickets were bought well in advance, only soft sleepers were available when we reached the counter (476yuan=php3550). (note: you had to be physically present to buy train tickets. there's no site where you can buy the tickets online. however, one can use a travel agency in shanghai who will buy the tickets for you while you're still in your country. further, the main station only sell tickets for trains leaving shanghai. another site said they also sell tickets if you're returning to shanghai but we were not able to try that option. be punctual. when entering the trainstation, one had to go through security. anticipate some queue. expect people carrying sacks or bundles or boxes. for train schedules, check out chinahighlights.com which would have time tables on which train leaves at what time and the cost of travelling from one location to another).
after securing our tickets, we rode a cab and then headed on to Qi Pu Lu (pronounced 'chi puh lu', accent on first syllable) (13yuan=php100)

Qi Pu Lu
Qi Pu Lu is much like divisoria, lots of wares at very affordable prices. i bought a pair of leg warmers (42yuan=php313), winter gloves (15yuan=php112), and a jacket (30yuan=php224) as preparation for beijing's colder weather. we decided to return to this area before flying back to manila so can do some more shopping then. we returned to Beehome (23yuan=php172), packed our stuff, and went back to shanghai trainstation (33yuan=php246). before boarding the train, we bought some dinner (noodles, bread, water. not much rice in the area) and other snacks to eat on the 13hour train ride.

Shanghai trainstation
upon entering the lobby, one would have to check the train number on one's ticket then check the lobby's monitor. this would show one's waiting area since there's a waiting area for each train number. one would not get lost as the train numbers are again posted on the entrances of each waiting room. (the train number, departure time, and lounge area would be the only thing you'd understand as most were in chinese text on both ticket and lobby monitor)gates within the waiting rooms open and close within specific time frames so it's advised to arrive early at the trainstation.

the sleeper trains were comfortable and there's a restaurant on the train which closes some time around 9pm. however, food here was expensive so bringing one's food was recommended. dispensers of free hot water, restrooms, and electric sockets were also available on both ends of the car. inside the cabin, the lights, music, and temperature were all adjustable found beside the door inside each cabin.