Some places in the world arrive long before you do. Among them is Shanghai. I had already meticulously pieced up a mental image from movies, newspaper headlines, and social media clips before I had even touched down. towers of glass. neon lights. unrelenting energy.
I arrived with a mix of intrigue and mild trepidation because I had visited Hong Kong numerous times but had never traveled to mainland China. Immigration was incredibly quick; my bags arrived with military accuracy, and soon I was speeding thru the Shanghai nite in the direction of Changshu. Unfortunately, it was completely dark outside, so I had no idea if we were traveling thru Shanghai or the car dealerships of Stuttgart, Solihull, or Changchun. Before taking me to the Garrya Yangcheng Lake Hotel, a stunning lakeside retreat so serene it felt less like a hotel and more like a place intended for monks recovering from burnout, my driver, happy despite the late hour, thot back on the challenging years of Covid that had so severely affected China.
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