¥9.30 Snacks
¥8.00 Taxi
¥442.00 Hostel (6 days)
¥20.00 Dinner
¥50.00 Transport Card
¥22.40 Fruit
¥2.00 Water
(¥553.70)
Total: ¥553.70 ($97.65)
Weekly Total: ¥2423.50 ($427.42)
Total Spend: ¥25376.15 ($4798.65 AUD)
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I knew 3 girls from my school (2 of who I had travelled with to Huangshan) were going to be in Beijing too the same time I was there. I may or may not have booked the same hostel as them as a safety precaution (against loneliness, the greatest fear of solo travel!)
The night before I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep and with the song ‘北京欢迎你‘- Beijing Welcomes You still ringing in my ears and my mouth parched from some MSG'd mantou (steamed bread) from late night BBQ, I set off early to get on my 9:53am train. Luckily I bumped into these girls at uni, and discovered we were both on the same train (I swear I did not plan that one) and so instead of catching public transport I jumped into a taxi with them and had some sweet company there.
We were seated separately but in the same carriage, and we went to the same hostel together ("You're in the same hostel?" "Oh really, what a coincidence!") but after we arrived we split from there.
Real-Life Cluedo
Check-in was handled nicely enough, and before long I was handed my key into my 4-bed dorm. When I entered it was empty (phew!) but there were signs of living. I saw Nike sneakers on the floor, man deoderant and empty beer cans on the desk, towels, jackets and a baseball cap hanging on the hooks and an empty top bunk for me. It was the absence of beauty products in the bathroom that made it clear: I was in a room with 3 boys.
I can't say how I felt - it was a mix of confusion, hesistancy and perhaps just a fear of the unknown. Why would the receptionist put me in a room with 3 boys? Isn't that kind of dangerous?* Why am I the only girl? I felt uncomfortable, as if I had intruded a boys-only zone. Are they serial party-people? What if I can't sleep here? What if I don't get along with them? The week would just drag. Maybe I could ask to change to a room with females...
I set my thoughts aside and decided to do the first thing I always do when I arrive in a new place: explore my surroundings.
The Explorer
My hostel is in a hutong (a narrow lane or alleyway in a traditional residential area of a Chinese city), and armed with first-day anxiety I felt as if it would be unsafe for me to walk back on this empty back-alley at night, so I decided to explore while the sun was still out.
I walked from ZhangZiZhong Lu to the main eatery areas the next metro stop down around Beixinqiao. My impression of Beijing was still neutral - it was bustling and crowded, there were a lot more people than I was used to, and I still kept my DSLR safely nestled in my bag (it's a sign that I still was wary of my surroundings). I had been warned by almost everyone to be careful of what I eat here (most people get sick) so I chose a clean looking restaurant and had a quick meal around 6:00pm, then grabbed a drink from Coco and treated myself to some expensive mangosteens (it's always good to find familiarity and little things that make you happy in a 陌生地方 - unfamiliar place).
I then returned early to my hostel and had to make a big decision - go to the larger living room (it had some people chatting there) or go to the smaller one (only one guy there on his laptop).
Melting Pot
There wasn't much thinking involved. I went straight for the little one, got my blank itinerary out and started researching places to go for the rest of my week.
I think being in a smaller environment is a good place to start for solo travellers in hostels because it's much less intimidating. Even though this wasn't my first time, I felt it was more in my nature to be there. I could concentrate on doing what I needed to do, but eventually I ended up chatting with the two guys there - one from Germany, one from France. I got tips on places to go, and the French guy T even helped me with information on how to get my Mongolian visa. (He ended up being a very good friend, but at this point I didn't know that yet). He had lived on a farm in Australia for 2 years and he was in China as part of a detour before heading back to France. His lifestyle in Australia was completely different to mine and it piqued my interest. He showed me pics of the outback and we exchanged stories on our different experiences in Uluru and Coober Pedy.
My Mystery Room-mates
I eventually went back into my room and met my roommates. The first person I met was P, a Congan born in the Netherlands who was my age. He could speak Dutch, French and English, and he was here for a month as part of an internship program, the same as M, a Kurd born in France.
When I met M, he was at the reception desk and when I introduced myself, he said "I already know." He also already knew my birthday (which made me think he saw my details from reception.) I was a bit surprised, but he was friendly enough. He was encouraging me to go out with them to the club that night, but since I hadn't slept at all the night before I said I had no energy to.
The last person in my room was O, from Mexico. He was a little bit older and was here with his brother's family (who stayed in a hotel) for a holiday. He moved in the same time as me, while the other two boys had been living there for over a week already.
That night, M&O went to the club, so it was only me and P in the room. P is good friends with M, but he's a bit older than M (who is 21 and still has very young boy-ish intentions), so I found out we were both quite similar in our attitude to going out. We both like to go out and dance, but we're a bit over the whole getting drunk scene.
I found out that he is a pro foot-freestyler. Foot-freestyle is this new emerging sport (?) of doing football tricks, and there are competitions in Europe. He also made me guess his other 'skill' which turned out to be tutting - a dance form. I told him that I was always interested in popping and locking, and so he also taught me some basic tutting moves. We also shared our collection of R&B music, and by then it was already 1am and we had talked for more than two hours.
Outside the Comfort Zone
Ah I forgot to mention! I had spent the whole night planning a list of places to see in Beijing, but I had completely forgotten to look at the weather. The next day I had originally planned to go to the Forbidden City, but in the living rooms I also met another Mexican, J, who was a budding businessman who told me all about this Social Innovation Week that was happening in Beijing that weekend. He had a two-day pass, but since he wasn't going the next day, he ended up giving it to me so I could go in for free. I didn't think I had enough time to do both the Forbidden City and this convention, but since it was going to be raining I changed my plans and decided to go.
By the end of the first day I was already feeling warm and fuzzy. Mentally I put a giant red tick next to my decision to come here by myself - I wouldn't have been able to meet so many wonderful souls and hear so many great stories if I had come here by any other way.
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*I know this is a bad thing to think and a bad stereotype but I'm being honest!
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PHOTODUMP
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| A really clean bathroom in the 高铁 (high speed train). Clean bathrooms are kinda rare in public areas here. Also I think a full length mirror placed here in the bathroom is kind of awkward. Also favourite travel clothes. Also selfie. |
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| Look, steamed vegetables! (Kinda rare to find them unseasoned here) |
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| Ahh chain stores. Its always the same pudding & pearls chocolate milk tea wherever you go! |
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| I was thoroughly confused by this. Just figured out that 'pool' probably means the water in the toilet bowl. |
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| The view from the quiet living room.. look at all those people in the other room I evaded! (Introverts fistbump!)(more like self-bump) #foreveralone |
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