Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

I am back with my usual weekly post including a story time today. Below details an experience I had in Shanghai in springtime last year.

Now of course, this is just my experience and it may be different for others. However, I have listed below what I learnt from this particular incident to help mitigate any of these issues happening to other people.

I took the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai, a journey that lasted just over four and a half hours. When I visited in April, it was raining, but I still walked along the Bund and the western bank of the Huangpu River. Not far from there was the Old City of Shanghai, which was absolutely beautiful.

With a friend I met in the hostel the night before, we walked around the old town in the rain and went to find some dinner.

We ended up going to a few bars and a nightclub, as it was clear to see the nightlife was absolutely bustling.

Now, you may have read on the news recently about the young travellers who were poisoned indirectly via fake alcohol in South-East Asia. Upon hearing that news story is what inspired me to share my experience to spread awareness for this issue prevalent around this region.

The two of us seemed to drink a considerable amount, but it was clear to us we were not getting particularly drunk.

It was only the next day that I realised what had happened: I have had enough hangovers in my life to know what one feels like, but this was something completely different.

Concerned, I messaged my friend living in Kunming asking what had happened.

To my surprise, he was not shocked by this reaction to drinking at all. He advised me that there is a lot of ‘fake alcohol’ in China, in particular in Beijing and Shanghai.

He told me tales of himself and other people who had also suffered (to more extreme lengths than I, waking up not knowing what happened on the street).

The first symptom I noticed was not being able to see clearly. However, this was not an usual feeling for me given I wear glasses/contact lenses and have relatively poor eyesight. Even with my contact lenses (and later glasses) on, it was still clear I was having trouble focusing.

I was struggling to move from my hostel bed and was noticeably shaking (this lasted for around three days after, as it was clear my body was trying to flush out whatever had been in it).

I was told by my friend in Kunming that quite often spirits are substituted with cheaper alternatives, such as nail varnish remover, paint stripper or cleaning liquids.

This would explain why we didn’t feel the usual ‘drunk’ sensation we were expecting, especially after drinking more to try to rectify the situation.

Luckily I did recover within the next few days. However, after the recent events in the news it does highlight the importance of this topic and being aware of your surroundings if required.

Tip to learn from Aelfgifu: 

• Be very careful in areas that are known to have issues like this.
  • Do your research on whether the city / country you are going to has a history of this so that you can err on the side of caution.
• Try to limit your drinking to beverages like bottled beer, which you can open yourself and check for tampering.
• Avoid spirits, as they can easily be mixed with other substances without significantly altering the flavour.
• If you are to go out drinking, make sure you are with someone who can look after you in an unexpected scenario. I was lucky in that I had someone else with me but even better if they are drinking different drinks so that only one of you is affected!

Please let me know if you have had any similar or different experiences below and I hope you can learn from my mistakes!

Hope you’re staying positive and testing negative,

Aelfgifu