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.

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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.