It had been a long flight of roughly around 10 hours and you were tired and jetlagged as the plane landed in Shanghai Pudong International Airport. You smiled to yourself. Finally you had arrived in China!

You waited patiently for all the passengers in front of you to get out of the plane before you also followed and found your way to the place where you could get your suitcase.

It didn’t take long before you spotted it since you had been so smart as to take your lime green suitcase with you so it was easy to recognise. You dragged it with you out of the airport to the taxis.

“Taxi!” You shouted and waved as a cab slowed down and stopped where you were standing. You smiled. The cab driver came out and took your suitcase to put it in the trunk of the car. You got in on the backseat.

“Where do you need to go miss?”

“Ehm, I need to go to this address.” You said in the best Mandarin you could and showed him the little note you had written the address on. The cab driver nodded before he drove away from the airport.

“Your Mandarin is good, you’ve been here before?” It took you a few seconds to process what he had said and to find the right words.

“Thanks, nope this is my first time here.” He smiled.

“Welcome then.”

“Thanks!”

“You’re going to visit some family?”

“No, I don’t have family here, I’m here to learn better Chinese.”

“Oh, I see.” He paused. It looked like he didn’t know how to ask what he had in mind. You smiled and waited patiently. “… Sorry to ask but… You seem a little young to travel alone?” You chuckled.

“Maybe… I’m turning 19 in a few days so I thought I would try going alone… Also my parents had work to do.”

“Well, I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here.” He said with a smile as he stopped the car. You looked out of the window only to find out you had already arrived at the hotel you were going to spend the first 5 nights at.

“How much?” You were about to find your wallet.

“Since it’s your first time here, you don’t have to pay.” You widened your eyes in surprise.

“I-I can’t do that!”

“Yes you can.” He then went out of the car and got your suitcase for you. You sighed but smiled. This man was really kind. But how did he earn money if he said something like that?

“Thank you.” You said and bowed to the cab driver. He smiled and got into the cab. He waved before he drove off. “I hope everyone here is as kind as him.” You said to yourself. Not so kind to give you everything free, but nice and welcoming. You walked into the lobby of the hotel and over to the front desk.

“Hello miss, can I help you?” One of the ladies behind the counter asked. You smiled and placed your papers on the counter top.

“I’m ___, I reserved a single room.” The woman nodded and looked at your papers before she disappeared into another room for a second. She placed a key on your papers as she returned.

“This is your room key,” She found a few pamphlets. “And this is a little about our hotel and the area were situated in.” She smiled.

“Thanks.” With that you took your papers, the key and the pamphlets in one hand and before you could take your suitcase a guy came over and took it for you.

“This way, miss.” He said and led the way over to the elevator and showed you to the right floor and room. “Have a nice stay.” He said.

“Here.” You said and handed him some money. He smiled and bowed before he left. You entered the room and looked around. It was neither small nor big.

The walls were coloured white and decorated with a thin black line around the room. One wall was almost entirely of glass, which let you have full view of the city. The curtains were also black. There were a king sized bed placed in the middle up to one of the walls.

“Hadn’t I reserved a single room?” You double-checked your papers and true enough you reserved a single room. “Maybe it’s just standard…?” You sat down on the bed. You didn’t mind having a bigger bed as long as you didn’t pay for it!

You decided to take a shower since you felt a little dirty and sweaty after the flight. You opened the door into the little bathroom in the corner of your room.

You sighed happily to yourself as the warm water poured over you. This was just what you needed. After the shower you found some clean clothes and decided to find somewhere to eat since you felt hungry and it was already 8pm local time.

You took one of the pamphlets the lady in the reception had given you as it had a map over the area and you didn’t want to get lost on your first night there.

You walked a little around before you decided for which restaurant to eat at. You had found out that one of the streets where filled with restaurants. As you walked in you where welcomed by a girl only a year or two older than you. She smiled.

“Welcome, a table for one?” You nodded and smiled back.

“Yes please.” She showed you over to a table set for one and handed you the menu.

“Thanks.” You opened and looked through all their different choices. A few minutes later the girl came back again.

“Are you ready to order?” You nodded.

“Yes, I would like some white tea and the beef noodles, please.”

“It will be ready in a moment.” You gave her the menu back and she disappeared only to come back a moment later with your white tea. Soon after another girl came out with your beef noodles.

You enjoyed your meal and left tips with your payment before you left the little restaurant. You walked a little around enjoying the night air before you decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep.

As you came back to your room and had changed into your pyjamas and brushed your teeth you stood by the big window and looked at all the lights coming from the city. It looked stunning. Soon you yawned and decided to call it a day.

You turned of the light and the room became dark, except for the little lamp on the small bedside table. You crawled under the sheets and turned of the light and lay down and soon you were sent to dreamland.

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A/N: Here's chapter 1 :) Please remember to comment~ I will try upload at least one more chapter before I go on a school trip to Madrid, Spain, with my class on Saturday ^-^