Arising, yea, even before the crack of yon Shenzhen dawn, Sai Long and I fumbled our way toward wakefulness and, subsequently, the airport: quick showers, a clumsy zipping and gathering of bags, a last, nearly unconscious check of the apartment soon to be left under the supervision of Georgia and an occasional Georgia-sitter for a few weeks while Theron was in Georgia for the holidays and I wended my way around Australia and New Zealand on the second half of my tour.

We got a taxi easily enough but Sai Long had realized a crucial missing element–his laptop was still at the office, and he had hoped to do work while in the States.  So we made a necessary detour on the way to the airport.  I confess I felt a slight tinge of something like espionage as I waited in the back of the taxi; Theron darted into the yawning shadows of a building in the high People’s-Socialist architectural style.  Under the cold glare of a streetlight at the gate, a uniformed, armed security guard paced by his booth, eyeing the taxi persistently. The minutes ticked; I had no idea how far the airport was–no doubt Theron had told me, but did I mention it wasn’t dawn yet?–and so I had no idea how we were doing on time, and I was dozing.  In any case, it was a ripping thrill of Cold-War make-believe, in a post-Cold-War dream.

Happily, Theron returned.  I cannot imagine what I would have done had he not…really, I have no idea.  We arrived at the airport with plenty of time and, discovering we were very hungry, we were grateful for the ubiquitously undifferentiated, artery-destroying treats of McDonald’s.  Nothing else was open.  Equally ubiquitous and equally undifferentiated Christmas tunes serenaded our pre-breakfast stomach-silencing.

The day which greeted us in Shanghai was dazzling and cool.  I wasted our time awaiting the inexplicably lengthy preparation of some deeply disappointing battery-acid qua coffee. After one sip, I dumped it into a trashcan as we hurried for the train into the city.  This was my first trip on a superspeed train, and we filmed the whole experience.  The vehicles on the parallel expressways appeared to stand still.  Sped-up film effects no longer seem so articificial to me.