After arriving in Beijing, I headed to my hostel. I had no trouble getting there, thanks to the subway. Have I mentioned the subway before? I’m in love with subways. The Shanghai Metro was incredibly convenient, and after the few days I spent there I have no doubt that I know my way around Shanghai better than I know my way around… Well, any of the various places I’ve lived. (Which, to be clear, is not setting the bar terribly high, but still.) The Beijing subway functions pretty much exactly the same, just slightly cheaper and with native English speakers for the English language announcements (both have them in Chinese then English). That’s generally my impression of the differences between Beijing and Shanghai: they do pretty much the same things, but Beijing just does them a little bit more smoothly. They both have a lot of traffic, but in Beijing it actually follows the road rules a lot of the time. They both have a lot of English translations on signs and things, but the ones in Beijing are a bit less likely to be quirky ‘Chinglish’. They both have big new roads next to little old side streets, but in Beijing the big roads look a bit newer and the side streets look a bit less old. They both have people frequently spitting on the footpath… But you get used to it. Having written that paragraph, I should make it clear: I prefer Shanghai. I’m not sure why. It’s not because I find it less sleek and shiny. I like shiny things. But for one reason or another, I felt quite at home there, more so than in Beijing (though I’ve only been here a day, and have most of a week left, so we’ll see).