Shanghai 2025
shanghai and hangzhou, the reset before exchange
The last leg before exchange was a solo one, with Hangzhou first and then Shanghai. It was less a sightseeing trip than a wind down built around finishing internship applications, getting closer to nature for a few days, seeing family, and boarding the plane with fewer loose ends in my head.
xihu, hangzhou
Hangzhou carried the quieter half of the trip. I worked from cafes most mornings, pushing through applications and a few side projects that had been following me around for weeks, then spent the afternoons walking around Xihu without much of a plan. At sunset, the light dropped slowly over the water, the causeways filled with people walking without hurry, and the pagodas on the far hills faded into silhouette.
Shanghai was the opposite, louder and faster, with the city asking for attention almost everywhere I turned. I spent a couple of days wandering the Bund, the former French Concession, and whatever neighbourhood I ended up in after getting off the metro too early. The anchor was dinner with my aunt and cousins, just a table full of dishes, updates, teasing, and the familiar rhythm of family catching up.
Placed next to the bigger landscapes on that summer route, this leg was small. No altitude, no blue lake, no big story. Just cafes, Xihu at dusk, Shanghai at night, and a family dinner before leaving for exchange.