After the attack, I walked the city for a few hours to work off some of the adrenaline. I was also trying to jump-start my memories. But try as I might, I couldn’t recall a single thing about Tres Mohandis or Thebes.
The Beijing skyline at night looked like the interior of a nightclub. The sky was a dark blue streaked with neon lights, painting electric patterns of fuchsia, aqua, peach, mint, and violet. I didn’t find progress beautiful. I liked old things, ancient things. Things with a bit of dirt on their faces, scuffed at the edges. Dented up instead of brand new.
I turned away from the city lights and stared at the Jiankou Mountains in the distance. The Great Wall curved into those mountains, forging its most precipitous peak. I knew the real reason that wall had been built. My recor
