Your First Hostel Stay: Etiquette and Practical Tips

Almost everyone staying in a hostel for the first time is worried about the same thing: sharing a room with strangers — is it safe, and will it be awkward? This guide clears up the common misconceptions first, then gives you things you can actually do. Read it and your first night will go a lot smoother.

Three misconceptions, cleared up

Misconception one: hostels put men and women in the same room. A serious brand does not do this. Jushe Hostel has no mixed dorms. Men and women stay in different rooms, and the shower areas are split into separate men's and women's zones as well.

Misconception two: it is one big open platform with no privacy. Standardized bunk rooms today are built as individual berths, and every bed has its own privacy curtain. Pull it and the space is yours. There is a reading light at the head of the bed, so you can read at night without turning on the overhead and bothering anyone.

Misconception three: there is nowhere to put your things and they will get taken. Every bed comes with a locking storage cabinet big enough for a large backpack or a suitcase. Add cameras throughout, overnight security rounds, and ID registration filed with public security, and it is honestly safer than a lot of shared apartments.

Before you arrive: a few things that change everything

Required: valid government ID. Without it you cannot check in. This one is not negotiable.

Strongly recommended: earplugs and an eye mask. These two items basically determine how well you sleep in a shared room. Roommates on different schedules, someone up for an early train, footsteps in the hallway — a pair of earplugs kills most of it, and they cost about ten RMB.

Worth bringing: your own charging cable and a couple of small hooks. Every bed has a 220V outlet and a USB port, but bring the cable. Hooks let you hang your phone, earbuds, and towel by the bed instead of climbing down to dig through your bag every time.

Do not bother bringing: toiletries, slippers, a towel, a toothbrush. Jushe provides a disposable toiletry kit, shampoo and body wash, and slippers for free, and bedding is changed for every guest and sanitized at high temperature by a third-party specialist. You do not need your own sheets.

One more thing: if you arrive on an early train and check in later in the day, you can drop your bags at the front desk. Luggage storage is free, so you can head out light.

The first three things to do when you walk in

One: put your luggage in the cabinet. Do not leave a suitcase open in the aisle. The aisle in a shared room belongs to everybody, and one 24-inch case lying sideways wrecks the flow of the whole room. Open the cabinet, load it, lock it. Two minutes.

Two: find your outlet and figure out the curtain. Learn where your outlet is and how your curtain pulls, so you are not fumbling in the dark later. Keep your charging cable on your own side of the bed and do not run it across somebody else's.

Three: learn where the showers and the study room are. Jushe splits shower areas into men's and women's zones with hot water around the clock, and the common area has a free study room, filtered water, and laundry. Walk it once when you arrive so you are not wandering the hallway at midnight.

Nighttime: quiet is the most valuable thing in a hostel

If you remember one rule, make it this one: after 11 p.m., keep the room quiet. Phone calls, voice messages, gaming — take it to the lounge. Every Jushe location has a 100–300 m² shared lounge, and this is exactly what it is for.

A few more that matter just as much. Headphones for video, always, even at low volume. Repack your bag during the day — zippers and plastic bags at 1 a.m. are far louder than you think. Use your phone's flashlight if you get up in the night instead of the ceiling light. If you have an early train, set your things by the bed the night before so you can grab them and go.

None of this is really a rule. It is a trade. Make a little less noise tonight and you get an extra half hour of sleep tomorrow when it is someone else's early train.

Common areas: five seconds from you, better for everyone

Wipe down the sink when you are done. Hair, toothpaste splatter — five seconds of rinsing completely changes the next person's morning. Jushe runs a cleaning round through the common areas and bathrooms every hour, but the stretch between rounds is on all of us.

Keep showers short. There are only so many stalls. At the morning and evening peak, try to be out inside 15 minutes, and pull the hair out of the drain when you finish.

Take your laundry out promptly. Jushe's washers and dryers are separated by gender and cost 2–3 RMB by QR code. Collect your load as soon as it finishes instead of leaving the machine tied up, and put the drying-area hangers back when you are done with them.

Smoke in the smoking area. Indoors is strictly non-smoking everywhere, and every location has a dedicated smoking area. This one has no wiggle room — the smell ends up in other people's bedding and clothes.

Do not camp on a seat in the common area. The study room has proper desks and office chairs. Clear your desk when you finish, and if you are going to be gone more than an hour, take your things with you.

Safety and privacy: protecting yourself, and everyone else

ID, cash, and your laptop go in the cabinet, even if you are only running downstairs for a bottle of water. Do not share your door code, and do not open the door for someone you do not know — every guest has their own code, so anyone who belongs there does not need you to let them in.

Do not film people in the room, and in common areas, glance at who is in frame before you take the photo. Someone else's bed is their private space: do not sit on it, do not set things on it, and do not start a conversation through a closed curtain.

If anything makes you uncomfortable — noise, someone crossing a line, a problem with your belongings — you do not have to tough it out. Contact the on-site manager. Jushe has a manager on the premises around the clock, and WeChat or a phone call usually gets a response within five minutes. The service line is 132 7551 0387.

Getting along with roommates

The comfortable distance is friendly, but not intrusive. A nod and a hello on the way in is plenty. If someone has the curtain pulled or headphones on, that is the signal for "not right now" — leave it.

The social part of hostel life happens in the common area, not in the room. If you want to meet people, go sit in the lounge. Most people staying at Jushe are the same age and in the same situation — job hunting, interning, studying for an exam — and a couple of minutes of conversation often turns up something genuinely useful: who is hiring, which line commutes fastest, which place nearby is cheap and good. That is the most underrated thing a hostel gives you over renting a room alone.

First-timer questions

What time is check-in and checkout? Standard check-in is 2 p.m. and checkout is noon, with early check-in when a bed is free. Self-service check-in runs 24 hours.
How do I get in the door? Register with your ID at the kiosk when you arrive; the printed slip shows your room and bed number and the smart lock code, and the code is texted to you as well. You can let yourself in at any hour.
How often is bedding changed? For every guest — a full set of sheets, duvet cover, and pillowcase before each new arrival.
Is there hot water 24 hours? Yes, at every location, plus 24-hour hot and cold filtered drinking water.
Is the air conditioning on? When it is 26°C or warmer outside, it runs around the clock.
More detail is in the FAQ.