Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mei guo,
we said. America. What's in the truck?
They smiled a little less. Cardboard, they said. Paper. For recycling. And they got in
their truck and left.
A gaggle of teenagers waylaid us and led us on a short tour, to a community center,
where teachers tried to control a restive mob of music students. We were a sensation. For
a moment I knew the life of a rock star, reducing his fans to convulsions with a single mo-
ment of eye contact.
Our abductors took us to a nearby temple. This is our temple, they said. We walked
through crumbling, ornate rooms overseen by a platoon of deities and demigods.
You should pray here, they said. To this god. Make a wish as you kneel and bow, with
your hands together. So I did it. But I couldn't decide whether to wish for peace or for love.
The secretary of the Guiyu business association—or whatever it was—met us in the even-
ing at the Six Star Coffee Shop in Shantou, the large coastal city where we were staying.
The Six Star had two levels, every seat a sofa, including several sofa-like things that hung
from the ceiling on cords, porch-swing style. It was a place where the wealthy and cosmo-
politan of Shantou could gather to feel wealthy and cosmopolitan. The menu was broad and
evocative, with helpful descriptions in English. I wavered over “Irish Coffee—Emotional,
romantic, and mysterious” before settling on a latte, because “the latte's mellowness with
the Hazel's aroma, Special flavor. Men's favorite.”
The secretary wore a puffy red jacket and stylish eyeglasses. She had brought along
her teenage daughter, a docile, wide-eyed girl who ordered an absurdly large pink drink.
It exploded with fluorescent straws and a large wedge of fruit cut into an artful splay that
evoked a breaching humpback. Her mother ordered a pot of fruity tea.
Cecily had chosen “university researcher” as my cover this evening. To my amazement
the secretary accepted it without a blink.
We want to improve the environment, she said. But as she had only been on the job for
a couple of months, she didn't know much about the industry she represented. Maybe that
was the point. We were originally supposed to meet the associate director, until he decided
otherwise and foisted the secretary on us. She punted question after question by saying she
would send us some informational materials put together by the association. (She never
did.)
