Taxicab Confession

It all started with some small talk. I got into a cab at Xidan after the buses had stopped running, and the cabbie, who was the talkative type, decided to make conversation.

“Did you participate in the moment of silence?”

It was a hard question to answer, though it shouldn’t have been. The answer was “No.” Simple as that. But I equivocated. I told him that I was in a mall during the moment of silence and that I saw some people observing it (which was all true), what about you? He said that he was on the street, standing beside his car, honking his horn. I asked him why and he said dismissively that the state had ordered him to.

The Crisis of Ambition

I had only been teaching in Beijing for a few months when I decided to ask my students about their future hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It seemed like a simple thing, guaranteed to spark some conversation and discussion and allow me to learn a little more about them. I was therefore surprised when the question engendered no comments at all. I thought it might have just been shyness so I quizzed students individually, but all I got were shrugs. I thought it might have been a vocabulary issue, so I switched to Chinese. The answer I received was simple: “I don’t know. Graduate and find a job, I guess.”

Fireworks Free For All

It began about a week ago. Sharp noises echoing through the chill winter air of Beijing. It started with isolated instances—noises heard far in the distance that reverberated from high rise to high rise. As the week rolled on, the frequency increased. Heavier explosions would leave car alarms blaring long after the echo died away. Shrill, whistling screams would be followed by a deep, echoing boom! The cacophony peaked at midnight on the 7th, becoming a ceaseless barrage and leaving at least one dead and many hospitalized. Today, empty cartridges and shreds of red paper litter the streets, blowing like tumbleweed across broad avenues, accompanied by gritty powder and ash that stings the eyes. The faint tang of sulfur lingers in the air.