2 First Impressions: My First Day
Don’t worry, I won’t be writing about every single day. I’m almost certain that no one would appreciate that.
I landed in Shanghai on the 15th of August, 2025, with something of a bang. Not just literally - China Eastern Airlines are not one for smooth landings, let me tell you - but figuratively too.
Immigration, despite the almost unbelievable effort it took to be granted a visa, was quick and painless - quite the opposite of what I had expected. Feeling optimistic, I headed through baggage claim and immediately tried to activate my eSIM. I followed the instructions carefully, waited a few minutes, and soon realised it wasn’t working. Literally perfect.
If you weren’t already aware, China operates one of the strictest internet censorship systems in the world. Most major Western platforms i.e. Google, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, are blocked.
Even had airport Wi-Fi been available, I needed my eSIM because it had a built-in VPN to get around the “Great Firewall”. Without it, I couldn’t access anything. I couldn’t sort the problem because I couldn’t Google it, and I couldn’t Google it because I didn’t have a VPN. Perfect.
I distinctly remember dumping my suitcase by the entrance of Shanghai Airport, parking myself on top of it, and slouched against a wall. I was trying not to crumble. It didn’t help that I was completely delirious after more than 36 hours without sleep. I’d taken two melatonin tablets on my red-eye flight because I’m such a terrible sleeper on planes, only to stay awake for the entire 9-hour flight from Abu Dhabi thanks to a cramp in my calf (ok I’m 25 years old ???). It really was the longest 9 hours of my life.
My main concern wasn’t posting an Instagram story. It was a slightly more practical question: how was I going to leave the airport without being able to pay for anything? China is famously cashless, with around 99% of businesses running through apps like Alipay or WeChat. To my credit, I’d actually prepared for this and set both up before arriving, which took an eternity because the entire process was in Chinese and involved a lot of hopeful button-pressing as I couldn’t be arsed to translate any of it (this becomes a trend). Unfortunately, both apps require mobile data to work. And thanks to my shite eSIM (boo Holafly! Don’t trust the ads!!), I had absolutely none.
So, I sat and pondered. Opposite me, there were multiple counters for SIM providers. But they were all Chinese, and therefore wouldn’t have a built-in VPN. Nevertheless, in a desperate state, I went over to the ladies at the SIM counter who were practically elbowing each other in the face to talk to me, and asked for a SIM. Using their translator device - because, just to be clear, I met only a handful of locals in my two months in China who spoke any English - I explained that I could only pay once the SIM was set up.
More importantly, I asked if they knew of a way I could download a VPN.
The kind lady behind the counter quickly snatched my phone from my hand. Her colleague watched with the sort of concern usually reserved for someone about do something really bad, repeatedly telling her not to do whatever it was she was clearly about to do. Ignoring this entirely, she somehow managed to download a VPN. To this day I have absolutely no idea how she pulled that off given the Great Firewall, but suddenly I had both a SIM and a VPN. I thanked the women at the counter as if they had personally revived me with CPR, paid, and immediately messaged home to confirm that I was, in fact, still alive.
That experience was my introduction to China.
Was it bad? It certainly wasn’t ideal. Could it have been worse? Without a doubt.
My next mission was to get to my hostel in central Shanghai. Obviously thanks to the firewall, Google Maps is completely useless in China. Now, there are two kinds of people in the world: sensible people who use Google Maps, and people who use Apple Maps. Unfortunately, my principles had to be put aside for the next seven weeks, because Apple Maps was the only one that worked and had everything translated.
Despite my scepticism, it actually got me where I needed to go: the Dayin International Youth Hostel, tucked away in an incredibly boxy looking office building just off Nanjing Road in the centre of Shanghai. On the way, I took my first high-speed train and metro, both clinically clean and strangely quiet.
Moving between the railway station and the metro station gave me my first real glimpse of China. I passed through an underground market where tiny stalls sold everything from hot food to clothes. But in truth, I didn’t take much of it in. I was far too distracted by the fact that it was 40 degrees and I was hauling all my luggage around (which sounds dramatic, but really just meant a 40L backpack and a 25L bag) while wearing my comfy, THICK, long-sleeved plane clothes.
By the time I reached the hostel, I was flustered and, according to one of my first messages home to my mum, “sweating my arse off.”
The hostel itself was perfectly decent. I showered, attempted a nap and called Tom. I didn’t really feel like going back out — I was exhausted and probably a little anxious. But it felt wrong to spend my first night in China hiding in the safety of my little wooden pod. So, eventually and reluctantly, I dragged myself back out in search of food.
Nanjing Road was my first real taste of Shanghai’s street life. As China’s most famous shopping street, I expected it to be busy. But the crowds were on another level, as if everyone was leaving a stadium after a gig. Just endless people.
It was the middle of the summer holidays and domestic travel in China is huge. I read somewhere the other day (Iknow, excellent journalism skills) that for the full year of 2025, domestic trips by Chinese residents exceeded 6.5 billion. No wonder China’s most famous commercial road was absolute chaos in mid August.
Nevertheless, I attempted to escape the crowds and found some smaller streets with loads of restaurants. It’s funny to look back on now, how lacking in confidence I was at the start. It probably took me an hour just to find the confidence to walk into a restaurant.
That was also my second realisation of the day: maybe I should have learned a bit more Chinese. I remember thinking, God, if this is the level of English in China’s most international city (virtually nonexistent), what will it be like when I visit the rural areas?
Still, I managed. And although I left the restaurant still hungry, because the noodles I ordered were inedibly spicy and I was shit at using chopsticks, I was glad I had pushed myself to go out.
So, my first impressions thus far:
1) Unbelievably clean
2) No Google Maps (big boo)
3) Visiting in August = unbearably humid
4) Visiting in August = very crowded
5) Little to no English
6) The food is very spicy (and I can’t handle my spice)
