As the van/bus pulled away from the
airport a long column of lights leading the way to the city loomed
farther ahead in relative darkness. The few shops/apartments where
people were still awake emitted the eery glow of fluorescent light bulbs
without any covering. Alternatively, some people opted for an
incandescent bulb with no lampshade. Neither option achieved a warm and
inviting look*.
Innumerable
shops drifted past our windows. However, the idea of a shop in China
is very different from the idea of a shop in America. Imagine replacing
strip malls with rows of storage units, building two story apartments
on top of them, and then removing all parking lots and you'll have a
rough idea of what most Chinese shops look like.
We
finally caught a break from the barrage of storefronts as the van/bus
approached the bridge over the Han River. The bridge happened to be one
of the few things that was lit up in the city, while the mighty Han
flowed beneath us, dark and silent. A few more turns and then we wove
our way up the mountain valley where the campus of XFU is nestled and
arrived at our apartment building going on 48 hours without sleep. The
whole trip was somewhat surreal.
I drew a room key at random, made the ascent to the 4th floor of the apartment building, opened the door, quickly surveyed the place, and passed out on a rather firm mattress.
*A proper lamp with shade has proved elusive, guess it's not a thing here.
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