Zhoushan

I got off the overnight train from Guangzhou and said goodbye to Ruby. I was on my own for the first time during this trip. I had planned to meet with people for lunch and dinner, but those plans fell through at the last minute in the end. I ended up with a whole afternoon and evening to myself in Shanghai.

  I dropped my stuff at the hostel and grabbed some food to eat at the cafe at the hostel. I ended up sharing the table with another guest and we chatted for a while. I then decided to head into the center. I wanted to go back to some shops I had been to on my previous trip to Shanghai. 

  I sought out some bookstores and stationery shops which I highlighted in a recent blog post about my favorite bookstores in China. I had a really nice time seeing what they had but I didn’t end up buying anything. I was looking for a specific book and a refill for my pen, but didn’t find either.

  I then cycled around the French Concession and the Bund. I love this area so much. It was one of the first areas I went when I went to Shanghai for the first time, which in turn was one of the first places I went to after I moved to Hangzhou. I find the architecture amazing, but it’s got a sort of roughness to it that is still very Chinese.

  I then sat at the viewpoint for the Bund just taking in the view. I still think the Bund is what the future looks like.   

That evening, I made some calls back home and ended up writing a blog post about Xingping because I felt inspired to. I just ate food that the hostel had on the menu. I made a run to a convenience store to get snacks for the long journey the next day. In the morning I got a bus to a long-distance bus station in Shanghai, which took me to the bus station on the main island in Zhoushan. From there I took a local bus to the ferry terminal, where I waited for an hour to get on the next boat. I got the boat – only about a 20-minute ride – and then got the local bus on Taohua Island to meet Lisa.  Because I had to register myself as a foreigner staying on the island, I went to the police station first just to get it over with. Lisa met me there to help me. When I told the bus driver to let me off at the police station, everyone on the bus just laughed at me.    That evening, when we finally arrived at Lisa’s house, we had a big dinner with her mom, aunts, and nieces. It was a crazy spread as usual of seasonal and local seafood and vegetables. Lisa’s parents are both amazing cooks and it’s such a nice cuisine in that part of China. 

  For the most part, the idea was to not do very much. We mostly hung around the house. Lisa was working so I spent some time reading and listening to podcasts. I also got to lay out in the sun on their roof terrace, which was nice.    At one point, we walked to the beach. I had to pay a fee and get a pass made, but it was really nice. I got in the water for a bit. We walked around and admired the barnacles. 

  Lisa took some photos and got herself stuck in the sand!

  Lisa’s village is a classic rural village, with agricultural fields in every conceivable place, big houses, and wide roads.

  The next day, Lisa helped me rent a bike from the neighbors. It was a pretty nice bike. I’d planned to go around the island later in the day. 

  After lunch, Lisa remembered she had a big box of mangosteens that were about to go bad. We had a big feast. I got lucky and picked three or four good ones.

  I took the bike out and cycled through the village and up the hill. I got some really great views of the bay.

  That night, there was the annual music festival on the beach. Lisa got us free tickets because she had connections!

  It was a really cool set up – they had this massive stage right on the beach!

  To be honest I didn’t really like the music that much. They also played a lot of adds, which was really annoying, but unsurprising for China.

  We still had a nice time wandering around. We also got interviewed on TV and Lisa got to promote her business.

The next morning I had to head back to Beijing! It was good spending time with Lisa. I can’t wait to go back to China and hopefully stay longer.   

I got the boat back to the main island, then a bus to Ningbo, where I caught the bullet train straight back to Beijing. It was a 12-hour travel day, but it was nice to meet back up with Louisa and Catriona in Beijing for our last day in China.