I took my 3DS to China for a couple of reasons – first, the thing has been criminally neglected and I figured that I might play it more if I didn’t have the Vita option, and second to try to get some exotic streetpasses.

I knew, of course, that game consoles in general were scarce things in China, that they had only recently become legal to openly sell, and that the country’s gaming scene was dominated by phone games and China-only MMORPGs.

Still, I figured that Shanghai was a massive, very cosmopolitan city and that I might on occasion actually run into someone else with a 3DS and get the cheerful green glow of the streetpass notification.

This turned out to be largely wishful thinking.

The four days I spent in Shanghai yielded a total of 9 streetpasses, 7 of them from Japanese tourists and two from Germans.

This includes the trip I took to the electronics district in Xiajuishi, which was notable for at least having some video game shops mixed in amongst all of the stores selling iPhones and iPhone related accessories. I could have, if I had felt particularly spendthrift, even picked up a Chinese Xbox One, a rare and unusual beast indeed.

About the only thing positive I can say is that I got to fill in the Aichi prefecture spot on my map of Japan, so I’m up to 30 out of 43 prefectures filled.

7 days in Beijing added two streetpasses, both from Japanese tourists. No more new Prefectures, tho.

Oddly enough, I didn’t see a single store in either city selling the localized versions of Nintendo products, though I did see a few selling the Chinese Xbox One and PS4/Vita. The only Nintendo stuff I saw on shelves was imported from Japan or the US.

So, on that front, it was a bust. I did play through a couple of games, anyway.