Car Rental#
The reason for attending the wedding was that I visited Weihai during the May Day holiday. Since Weihai doesn't have a subway, and the location of my friend's wedding was quite far, renting a car seemed to be the best travel option.
The last time I drove was during the Northwest road trip on the eve of the Spring Festival two years ago, and the time before that was when I was getting my driver's license. In comparison, this time felt much more relaxed, except for initially forgetting to pull the handbrake (it turns out you can still drive without it). Other issues were related to the car itself, such as the front brake pads being worn out and a flat tire, but these occurred close to the time of returning the car and did not affect the trip.
Regarding self-driving, my previous experience of driving alone, aside from the fatigue of long hours on the road, was that the feeling of driving on desolate roads was starkly different from the calm and openness depicted in movie scenes; instead, the sense of loneliness deepened as the journey progressed.
So this time, I tried to find fellow travelers through "Xiaohongshu" to share a ride, and unexpectedly, someone did contact me. I played the role of the driver and visited several scenic spots together. Although I can't agree with the approach of taking photos and then leaving, it was still a pleasant half-day experience.
Wedding#
With nothing to do, I arrived a day early at the venue of my friend's wedding. The traditional wedding process, and my only two experiences of attending weddings, have shown me that hosting such a wedding is quite exhausting.
Return Trip#
I couldn't get a standby ticket for the return trip, but there were others attending the wedding who were also returning to Beijing, so we rented a car together to drive from Weihai to Tianjin. Yes, because on the car rental platform, either you couldn't return the car in Beijing, or the one-way return fee was exorbitant.
There wasn't much traffic on the way, and although it was still a long drive, it didn't feel too tiring since I wasn't alone. The ride back to Beijing from Tianjin was quite boring.
Conclusion#
The biggest gain from this trip was the increase in experiences and a slight improvement in driving skills.