Hotels

I arrived in Tongliao by train at 4:30 a.m. on July 31st. I found a run-of-the-mill, cheap hotel near the train station and immediately took a nap in my room. I woke up, did some laundry in the sink of the community bathroom, checked to see if there was a shower (none), hung up my clothes to dry in my room, and went out to discover what Tongliao was all about.

I came back to my room in the afternoon to grab a few things. I checked my drying clothes, and that’s when I noticed the cockroaches coming out from the door frame.

Alarming? Not to me anymore. I’m used to this. It’s just a normal Chinese budget hotel.

I came back to my room at night. As I was brushing my teeth, several people were trying to wash large planks of some sort in the sink next to mine. They stared at me because I’m a foreigner, but they were the ones washing two-by-fours in a little sink, not me.

Luckily, it was hot in my room so I didn’t have to use the unwashed comforter provided for me. In fact, I even wanted the fan blowing on me (there was a fan!!!). After I got in bed, I realized there was no light switch in the room.

It was in the hallway.

I woke up in the middle of the night. Half a minute later, I heard several loud Chinese men yelling in the hall. And I noticed my fan was not working. The power had gone out.

In the morning, I used the light of my cell phone to make my way to my door. Out in the hallway, I hit the light switch. I had forgotten about there being no electricity.

So, I used my cell phone to get ready and to pack up my bag. I took a train to Shenyang and arrived that afternoon. I splurged and spent Y40 on a hotel with a shower. A community shower. But it was worth it.