Back in Guangzhou, things did not seem too bad. My companion woke me again because she wanted to brush her teeth. She kindly let me sleep after that, although I could not. At some point, I stopped pretending to sleep and played some rummy. While in Guangzhou, I had two options: buy a fast-train ticket for 70 kuai and leave in under an hour, or buy a slow-train ticket for 45 kuai and leave in five hours. Changing my airline ticket would cost US$175, actually more than I had paid for the round trip, so I was in turbo-cheap mode. Normally I am just plain old cheap, but now I was really cheap. I took the later train.

Oh no. I thought my train from Shanghai left at about 4:30pm, so I had planned to leave Hangzhou between 11:00 and 1:00. The journey takes about two hours. I woke at around 9:00am, packed, and checked the ticket. “Oh, @!#$%!” “What?” “I am in serious trouble. The train leaves Shanghai at 11:24!” For anyone not doing the arithmetic, it was already 9:30 and I was at least two hours from Shanghai, before even accounting for the trip to the station. There was little chance I would catch the train, but because I had to, I was not giving up. I checked out of the hostel and jumped into a taxi to the station.

Hangzhou is a beautiful city. Although I did not know its population, it felt smaller and calmer than the other places I had visited. People moved slowly, traffic seemed lighter, and the pace was less intense. My hostel was directly beside West Lake, a landscape celebrated by Chinese poets and writers for centuries. I left the warmth of the hostel and began walking along the shore. Parts of the area had clearly been reconstructed, but the lake remained beautiful. People strolled along the paths while I photographed almost everything. In the distance, an old Buddhist temple marked my goal for the day. I followed the lake through the brisk air, passing small clusters of buildings and attractive views along the …

Six hours later, I woke ready to start the day. I checked out of my room and first found an internet cafe. One of my primary reasons for coming to China was to mail my passport to New Zealand for a visa. I checked my email and confirmed that the visa office had received my application, passport, and payment. I sent a little more detail about my itinerary, and their reply sounded positive.

I will need to get used to writing ‘2007’, but I think it will be a great year. At least it has started wonderfully! After waking up, I packed my things, cleaned the room a little, and left the nearly empty guest house. I decided to take one more look at the modern district during the day and take a few more photos. I found the Jin Mao Tower, took my photos, and jumped back on the subway. After a quick ride to the train station, I purchased my tickets.

Fairly early in the morning, I woke up and got ready for the day. The place where I was staying looked and felt very old, especially with the lights out. It seemed like the perfect place for ghosts to gather, so naturally I was a little spooked. I walked with her to the shower and waited for her to finish.

Anyone who has spent a long time on a train knows the relief of finally leaving the carriage. After roughly 22 hours, I was certainly glad to step off. Looking back, a few details stand out. I had chosen a top bunk, and it was genuinely high. For anyone uncomfortable with climbing, I would recommend paying the small difference for a lower bunk. The advantage was that fresh air entered through vents near the top, so although it was cooler, the air seemed cleaner than elsewhere in the carriage. We had prepared ourselves for a particularly dirty train, but the reality was better than expected. There were cleanliness issues, including occasional spitting outside the designated areas, but the ride itself was smooth.

The morning came quickly, but I rolled out of bed, packed, and checked out. I had paid a key deposit, so I collected the refund. For breakfast, I stopped at a place packed with local people. After eating, I ordered their speciality dessert, a kind of pudding. I could understand why it had won awards. Before going to the train station, I decided to find one of the ten tallest buildings in the world, since I seem to have a fascination with tall buildings. I found it, took my photos, and walked through a traditional market. Sadly, there were many turtles ready to be made into stew or sauce, which I found unsettling.

I woke up. I walked out and got some breakfast, then finished packing, said goodbye to everybody, and left to catch my train. While downtown I exchanged a little more money, ate lunch at a Macanese-Portuguese restaurant, and bought tickets to Guangzhou. Two interesting events happened at breakfast. First, when I finished eating, the woman said, “Two kuai for the tissues.” Two yuan for tissues felt steep at the time. Considering my dinner was under 20 yuan, yeesh! Another observation was that I was repeatedly approached while walking back to the train station. About ten people called out, in roughly this order: “Hello, hotel! Nice hotel! You want hotel? Massage? Beautiful girl? Other offers …

David, the Irishman, woke up first because he needed to go to Hong Kong that day. I woke up second and started packing my things. The staff seemed quite sad to see me leave, but wished me luck with my travels and said I should come back again. I knew I would. I took the subway to Lo Hu station again, on a mission to call home. I walked and walked, trying to use my calling card on various telephones, but alas, it simply wouldn’t work. I went to an internet cafe, bought an access card, and got online. Still, no outside websites would load. They tried to connect, but the delay was simply too long. I returned the card, without a refund, which was frustrating, and finally learned why: “It was most likely …