Homeless in Shanghai at 18: Travel Memories
I had no money, did not know Chinese, and had no Internet or maps.
In the early morning, I decided to sit on the floor and sleep beside Shanghai’s train station. I was cold, and some men were laughing nearby. I could not interpret whether they were dangerous, but it did not matter because I had nowhere else to go.
Twelve hours later, pure gratefulness filled my heart. I started to see there was maybe another way to life.
Arriving to China
China sounded cool.
There is no other reason why I had chosen to go. I had been traveling in Nepal, and China was a massive unknown land on top of it. So, I took a direct flight from Kathmandu to Shanghai and landed past midnight.
The Great Firewall had rendered my phone worthless by blocking almost all my apps. I could not send or receive messages and did not have a map. But well, I was in China! I had made it.
I left the airport and bought a ticket with the 50 yuan I had exchanged for the Nepalese Rupees I had left. The change was 10 yuan, and unknown to me, I would live off them for the next two days.
Destination: Nowhere
The bus supposedly left me in front of the only hostel I remembered the name of. I…
