“This wasn’t a strange place; it was a new one.” — The Shepherd from “The Alchemist.”
Alan, Ivon, two of their friends, and I went to Yellow Crane Tower Saturday.
Yellow Crane Tower is one of Wuhan’s most well-known sights. While not in the same league as The Great Wall or the Terracotta Warriors, the tower remains, nevertheless, an impressive piece of Chinese architecture and an important relic of ancient Chinese history.
I met Alan Thursday afternoon in the canteen (cafeteria). Because my classes are so full of students, I rarely recognize any unless they speak to me first, so when he sat down and introduced himself, I knew he was a student. I just didn’t know which class. For all intents and purposes, I’d never seen him before in my life.
He showed me around the campus across the street. The much nicer campus, with the huge track and soccer field, the bigger buildings, the gym that’s only open from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the lovely East Lake it borders. He offered to take me to the new campus — The Sunshine Campus.
The Wuhan University of Science and Engineering is divided into three campuses: Old Campus, New Campus and East Lake. My campus is called the Old Campus. The New Campus is called The Sunshine Campus.
We boarded a free bus. As a teacher, I went to the head of the line, and as the teacher’s impromptu guide, he joined me on the 20-minute drive to the Sunshine Campus. Although it was dusk when we arrived, the name remained fitting. Each tree, shorter than I am. No country for shade. The sun shines untouched here.
We got there, and Alan called someone. Seven girls arrived, all of them introduced themselves to me and I returned the favor. Very interested to meet a foreigner, Alan went to see someone while the girls showed me around the place.
I can say that although I was exhausted, I felt great and comfortable. Even as they bombarded me with questions, I took each one and answered it, not letting my fatigue crack and ooze through.
What questions? A wide variety. I asked them questions too. I found out they share their dorm rooms with four other people. Not an Apartment Residence Hall situation, but rather, a room of bunks with one to each bunk.
They also had a curfew at 11 p.m., something no self-respecting UT student could handle without hitting a psychotic episode or two. Goodbye to leaving Hodges Library at 6 a.m. Hello lights out before midnight.
Near the end, they bought me a drink with no prompting from me, and we set up plans to see the Yellow Crane Tower on Saturday.
Despite getting to bed at 4 a.m. the night before (with no drinking involved), I got up and joined them at the front gate. Alan paid for the bus, and although it advertised air conditioning, it actually had small airplane-style fans. It duped me.
We got off and paid admission to Yellow Crane Tower. We took lots of pictures, and I learned some things about Chinese history I had never known before. This country has a rich culture and a long history stretching back thousands of years.
There is a bell at Yellow Crane Tower. You throw a quarter beneath it; then you pay a fee and ring the bell. Me, I saved the money and just rang the bell. It seemed a little more fiscally responsible.
You ring the bell and wish for something. What did I wish for? If I say, it won’t come true, but I can tell you what I did not wish for.
Wonderful hospitality and comfort.
I don’t have to.
— Travis Lee is a UT alumnus. He can be reached at [email protected].
