Life after Shanghai: Taiwan

After six months of living in Shanghai, I’m leaving.

My last month was rough, as I was evicted from my house with six day’s notice. “Renter’s rights? Never heard of ‘em.”

The people at my school were super generous, and let me stay, rent free in a back room at the school. It was a little creepy at night, but free rent and free food is always a blessing.

My next stop after Shanghai is Taiwan. The only way to Taiwan from China, without a plane, is by boat. (Remember I’m doing the whole trip without a plane) The Cusco ferry runs twice a week, and is the only ferry I could find. This is the company I used to book the ticket is here, if there are any interested parties.

www.amoytrip.com

Standing in front of the ferry

 My bunk

 Looking for their rooms

 Four to a room

It was about $108 USD for the cheapest room, and the trip took around 14 hours. The ferry felt more like a cruise though, I mean, look at this scenery.

Leaving China

Leaving China

A full moon over open waters. We also passed between two lightning storms, but the water was very calm.

The ferry landed in Keelung, which is in northern Taiwan, and about a 45 minute train ride from Taipei. After a stop in Keelung and Taipei, it was off to Jiufen. (joe-fun)

Pictures are below.

 The view from my room in Jiufen.

 The view from where the bus dropped us off.

 Sunset in Jiufen,

Adjusting to Taiwan

People in Taiwan and Shanghai both speak Chinese, but they could not be more different. Shanghai is a loud, polluted, overcrowded cacophony of busy people, fighting for a modicum of space. Taiwan is not.

Shanghai people have been so generous to me, and I can’t count the number of kindnesses I was shown. But still, life in Shanghai is rough, and the Shanghai attitude toward personal space is hard to live with.

I experienced Shanghai people frequently spitting, littering, yelling into their phones on overcrowded subways, ignoring lines and cutting in front of everyone- even if people had been waiting for over an hour. I also saw many instances of kids peeing. I once went two weeks were I saw this happen every day. One time I arrived at a subway station to find two young boys peeing on the stairs, playing a game where they could see who could pee farther and cover more of the steps. The father watched, and took no action to stop this or guide their urine to an area that people wouldn’t have to walk through. (I promise that all of this is not generalization or hyperbole- I lived with this madness EVERY DAY I was there).

People in Taiwan are very different. They file into orderly, almost OCD-like lines. There is absolutely no cutting. There’s no spitting. No screaming into cell phones. Almost no littering. Also, I’ve been here five days and haven’t seen one kid peeing.

It’s kind of funny, because six months of living in Shanghai has forced me to behave like a Shanghai resident, bumping and shoving and fighting for my space. (If you don’t fight for space you may not be able to board, or get off from, the subway) My first few hours in Taiwan I had to control myself and remind myself that I wasn’t in Shanghai. I didn’t have to push and fight for space on the subway because people would happily move over for me.

In shanghai, people tend to rush onto the subway as soon as it arrives, and promptly race to any open seat, especially the old ladies. The people who want to get off the subway must then fight against a flowing river of people.

In Taipei the train stops, people get out, and the train makes a special noise, telling people when they can board the train. Everyone waits to hear the noise before boarding. No pushing. No shoving. No elbows or shoulders or backpacks to fight through.

I cannot express the joy I felt at arriving in Taiwan.

(Politically correct side note: I hope the blog doesn’t seem racist or mean, this is simply my experience of six months living in Shanghai. It was hard for me. China is the most difficult country I’ve traveled in so far. And while the Chinese people have probably been the nicest, warmest, most generous people I’ve met on this trip, the Chinese attitude toward personal, public space has been incredibly frustrating.)

Anyway, this is Taiwan, I hope you enjoy. Lots more to come!

Rush hour in Shanghai (My descent into madness)

Rush hour in Shanghai is brutal. And I ride trains / buses between 4 and 6 hours every day, Monday through Friday. You read that correctly. 4 to 6 hours. I can watch The Lion King (89 minutes) four times on one of my long days, just on the metro.

This is the madness of my life.

A man tries to squeeze into an already overcrowded bus. He's not getting on...

You see, the bus I take to the subway station is crowded, and people often have to make tough decisions. Do I pull the old lady off the bus, or do I arrive late to work? 70 people waiting to board, and only 60 spaces… Only the strong get to board the bus, because there is no civilized line. I have been elbowed, shouldered, and shoved by people who wanted to get on the bus before me. Leave all humanity behind.

Once you enter the station, you have to pass security. This is more for show than anything else, and all it does is slow people down. The security check is similar to what you experience at an airport, and yes, that fancy x-ray machine is at EVERY subway station in Shanghai. (Also, you can they have Jurassic park posters up right now.)

Next you have to go through the turnstiles. There are a few hundred people pushing and only three working turnstiles. Fun, huh?

This is the same turnstile at night when the station is near empty.

Next you descend the stairs, and go to the train platform. The people here are waiting to fight one another- I mean, waiting to fight for a seat. I mean, they’re waiting to board the subway. In most cities, the riders get off of the subway first, then new passengers can board once it’s clear- not in Shanghai. People rush and bump onto the train, doing ANYTHING THEY CAN to get a seat. So if you want to get OFF the train, you’ve really got to work for it, and push against a flowing river of warm bodies. (Not proud of it, but I’ve had to shoulder check some people, just to get off at my station)

Now, once you get on the train, you have to deal with the passengers. Most people in China are very kind, however a few have very different ideas of what’s appropriate on a subway.

Here we see a woman clipping her toe nails.

Here’s a man clipping his fingernails- with fingernail clippers. I once saw another man shaving with an electric shaver. Many more will talk loudly on their phone, sometimes so loud that you can hear people's conversations in the next train car. You’ve got people who come by begging. Others come by with a suitcase full of suspenders, or kitchen utensils, or whatever, looking to sell them. People come by ‘passing out flyers,’ but all they really do is shove a paper into your face. The flyer people are incredibly rude, and pretty much everyone on the train hates them.

Getting home

The trains in Shanghai stop fairly late, around 11:30 or so. However, the buses stop earlier, some as early as 8 pm, with most of them winding down around 10 pm. Because of this, many people arrive at their train station to find that they’ve missed the last bus home. Because of this, a flurry of cab drivers descends on the train station, crying out for passengers. Here’s a fun little video.



Note* My train station is especially loud because it’s nearest to the airport, so the cabbies want to get the airport bound people.

Next you have to get on the bus to go back home. And boy, if you think people are vicious in the morning when they are going to work, wait til you see them in the evening, when they’re tired, hungry, frustrated, and all they want to do is go home, but it’s the last bus of the evening and you’re standing between them and their bus. I've seen people do some unpleasant things to get on a bus.

People waiting in the rain for the last bus. When it arrives they will sprint to it and crowd around the door. The first time I saw this happening I thought of all those zombie movies where mad zombies run through the streets and surround people. There really is something mad and desperate in the way they run to, and crowd around, the bus. It's quite a thing to behold, watching a hundred people sprint and push and struggle for something that will only accommodate sixty of them.

 People crammed so tightly onto a bus that the front door can't open.

This is my life, Monday through Friday, and sometimes Saturday and Sunday.  (Currently working 7 days a week) Pushing, getting pushed back. Trudging, shoving, standing- crammed into the corner of a bus or train, for longer than you can stand. Trust me, it's much worse than it sounds.

Thank you for checking out my blog. Please consider purchasing a book. Book sales help me keep traveling, and help me to continue making cool blogs.

Among the Fallen is a sci-fi fusion novel. It's a story mythology coming to life, heaven and hell, and surviving the apocalypse.

But more importantly, it's a promise that, whether Angel or Earthling, one can pick up the pieces after everything worthwhile has been shattered.

Visa Run: Shanghai to Hong Kong

I’m on a trip across two continents, without an airplane. That means no air planes, at all, even when on a visa run.

Visa run. Noun.

Definition: A visitor in a country is only allowed to stay so long in that country. Japan allows 90 days. Cambodia allows 30 days. When one reaches the limit to their stay, they must leave the country, and can return to that country to stay for another 30 or 90 days, or whatever.

Probably the cheapest option from Shanghai is taking the train to Hong Kong. It’s 380 RMB one way, roughly $60. It takes 19 hours, each way. Yea, 19 hours.

Here is my experience through pictures.

There are armed guards everywhere. They stand behind red ropes. They carry shotguns and large automatic rifles.

Lines to get train tickets are long, and old people frequently cut in line. I waited an hour in line, and an old man had the gall to cut in front of me in the last minute. I growled / yelled at him, and he cut in front of the person behind me instead. Old people cut in line ALL THE TIME here!!

Note, the ticket to Hong Kong can only be purchased at Shanghai Railway station, at window 6. No other station / window will sell you this ticket. Most employees lack the English to make this fact clear- so, I ran around Shanghai for a whole afternoon, trying to buy my ticket. 

The train.

This is the ticket. The one I fought line-cutters and rude train station attendants to get.

Once you're on the train, this lady comes by, takes your ticket, and gives you a plastic card. When the train arrives in Hong Kong, she takes back her plastic card and returns the ticket- the whole point seems unnecessary.

The plastic card she gives you, then takes back later.

Inside the train. It's mostly older people on the train. Very few young people, and no foreigners. I get stared at a lot when on the train. Whatever, it's the expat life.

There are three bunks. Top and middle are a little hard to get to, but the bottom bunk is the worst, as strangers will use it as a seat, meaning you have no personal space. You get a lot of exercise climbing to the top, as there isn't always a ladder. A pillow and blanket are provided, and both are quite nice.

 View from the middle bunk. The bed is about as wide as my shoulders, and there's not enough room to sit up right.

Train food. It tastes ok, not great. And it's only 25 RMB ($4) so I can't complain.

Bring a book.

Also, bring an extension cord. There are only three or four electrical outlets per train car, meaning that fifty or so people have to share.

There's a button on the wall that turns on some music. I think it was a Chinese opera playing, and I don't mean to sound culturally insensitive, but this particular opera sounded like a cat was being ritually murdered. Lots of screeching and high pitched wailing, with dialogue and laughter between songs. The older people didn't seem to have a problem with it.

The toilet. Yea, try using this on a moving train. Remember, the trip is 19 hours, one way. Chances are you're gonna have to dance with this devil.

Also, that trash bin is full of stinky, used toilet paper, because toilet paper does not flush down the toilet. The result is that the bathroom smells like a trash can full of shit.

The place to wash your hands. Notice there is no soap, apparently they don't have germs in China. Don't drink the water.

Inside Hong Kong there are posters denouncing China, specifically Jiang Zemin. People in China would go to prison for this, but Hong Kong doesn't have such strict rules. Jiang, the person mentioned in the poster above, was a Chinese politician who ordered a BRUTAL crackdown on a group that was peacefully resisting Chinese authority, and gaining power within China. An estimated 4,000 were jailed and killed. There are many stories of their organs being sold on the black market.

Yea, China's pretty fucked up : /

Falun Dafa was the leader of this peaceful resistance. You can learn more about him here. It's a really sad story.

There are a lot of posters

Once in Hong Kong I had enough time for a bland lunch, then had to get right back on the train.

And that's a visa run. From here it was 19 more hours on the train back to Shanghai.

Thank you for checking out my blog. Please consider purchasing a book. Book sales help me keep traveling, and help me to continue making cool blogs.

Among the Fallen is a sci-fi fusion novel. It's a story mythology coming to life, heaven and hell, and life after the apocalypse.

But more importantly, it's a promise that, whether Angel or Earthling, one can pick up the pieces after everything worthwhile has been shattered.

Crocodiles, Tai Chi, and Gambling! Shanghai in pictures

People in Shanghai like their pets. A lot. They even give them funky hair styles. I think this one is supposed to be a lion.

People in Shanghai sell interesting things. Here are some reptiles. There were snakes, alligators, and turtles, all of which smelled really bad.

Here's a man selling goldfish. Or stealing them. I don't really know.

Young people in Shanghai mostly just smoke cigarettes, but older people like to stay healthy. Here's a woman doing Tai Chi. I think.

People in Shanghai (just men) like to gamble. A lot. I actually can't leave my apartment complex without passing a group of men huddled around some cards and a stack of cash. (Not an exaggeration) They gamble on park benches.

The gamble on the sidewalk.

They gamble on OTHER benches.

And they gamble while leaving their kids in the car. Or, scooter, I guess.

Shanghai has a lot of pollution in the air. I often have to wear a face mask, and some parts of the city I can't even go to because it hurts my lungs to walk around. I went to the top of subway line 6 and got a headache from the power-plant fumes. One (the only?) upside to this is that you get some pretty dramatic sunsets- as the sunlight plays off all the shit in the air.  

Pretty...

 More eye candy

Thank you for checking out my blog. Please consider purchasing a book. Book sales help me keep traveling, and help me to continue making cool blogs.

Among the Fallen is a sci-fi fusion novel. It's a story mythology coming to life, heaven and hell, and life after the apocalypse.

But more importantly, it's a promise that, whether Angel or Earthling, one can pick up the pieces after everything worthwhile has been shattered.