"???" Wild Heart is shocked too.
Perhaps he is not as wild as his name. Lulu thinks, then types:
Beijing Lover: "Sensual body movement turns me on."
Wild Heart: "I've never done it before. I'm afraid of disappointing you."
Beijing Lover: "Are you a good lover, then?"
Wild Heart: "Yes. Satisfaction guaranteed."
Beijing Lover: "Show me."
Wild Heart starts to dance naked in front of the webcam. Because of the delay of the live video transmission over the Internet, Wild He art looks ridiculous. Lulu feels guilty, but then she reminds herself; "This is my revenge. I'm regaining power."
Soon, they agree to get together, and arrange a time and location to meet. Wild Heart suggests a room in a public bath-house. Lulu vetoes it because she doesn't like cheap, sleazy places. Even a one-night stand ought to be romantic, according to Lulu.
Wild Heart mentions the Kunlun Hotel, a five-star hotel that is past its prime. They agree.
At three-thirty in the afternoon, standing in the lobby of the Kunlun Hotel, Lulu suddenly becomes nervous. Wild Heart strides in. His images from the webcam are mainly in the nude, so he looks just a little strange wearing a suit and tie. Even though he has a model's good looks, Lulu isn't excited. "Am I really going to do it with some guy I've just met on the Internet?" Lulu asks herself.
"Hi, Beijing Lover, is that you?" Wild Heart recognizes her and walks to her with a full smile. He looks confident, not nervous at all. She greets him as casually as possible.
"Should we get a room?" Wild Heart says.
Lulu nods, biting her lower lip. Would they be noticed and stopped by the hotel security staff? Would the police think she was a hooker? If she was questioned, she wouldn't even be able to tell them his name.
Wild Heart goes to the counter to register. Lulu stands two meters away as Wild Heart shows his ID card.
"The executive business suite is 888 RMB per night," she hears the room clerk quote the rate.
"Sure." Wild Heart nods, patting his pockets. "Sorry. I left my wallet in my car – I'll be right back," he says to the clerk and Lulu.
"I'll split half of the cost later," Lulu thinks to herself. "At least, it shows I am his equal."
Lulu waits in the lobby alone, trying to ignore the occasional searching gaze from other men and some disapproving glances from the women who walk by. Women who loiter in Beijing hotel lobbies always arouse suspicion.
Half an hour later, Wild Heart has not returned. Lulu finally realizes that he is not coming back. She's been fooled again, but somehow, this time she is happy to be fooled. It stops her from doing something that she'd regret later.
She tells the story in great detail to me immediately. I understand why she prefers the Internet. After all, it is Beijing Lover's afternoon that has evaporated, not hers.
TUOYI WU: Strip dance.
34 Lining Up in China
Ask any Chinese and they'll tell you that China is undergoing sweeping changes at an incredibly fast rate. Building construction, highways, and new goods for sale in new shopping centers have changed the face of Beijing and Shanghai. But some things never change.
Take lines. For practical reasons, lines are not part of the Chinese psyche. And far be it for me to suggest that they should be. If you want to line up for something, let's say movie tickets, then be my guest. And while you're at it, feel free to politely yield to those who seem to be in a bigger hurry than you. After all, it's the civilized thing to do. But don't expect to see your movie. Not that day, anyway.
It just isn't practical to line up because you'll only be beaten out by anyone with fewer scruples, and sharper elbows than you.
When I'm with foreign guests, I refuse to engage in such tactics, so I often feel embarrassed because I am the last to be seated in the restaurant, last to get a cab, and first to be turned away at the ticket window. However, when I'm not entertaining foreign guests, I can be as rough and rowdy as anyone. I love to come away from a ticket window proudly clutching the spoils of the ticket war and leaving a wake of disappointed people.
Today, I am pushing my way toward the ticket window of the Beijing Fine Arts Museum. Tickets to the popular exhibition of European expressionism are limited. I am packed in a throng of winter-coated bodies reeking of garlic and boiled cabbage – and I am having the time of my life. But, suddenly, I am attacked from behind. I am being pushed and poked at by a squat old woman who has obviously been part of a mob before. I feel a fleeting sense of compassion: I remember the "silver seats" on public buses in California, and how people would yield a seat to a senior out of either kindness or fear of legal action. "But this is China," I think. "I must stick to my guns. If I yield, I will only be taken advantage of by every other nasty old woman in this horde."
I feel the rush of competition brewing. I face forward, ignoring the woman ramming me from behind. I have about three meters to go before I reach the window, and even then my position is not guaranteed.
I'll need to have my money out and on the counter before the others and hope the cashier chooses my offer first.
I take out some crumpled bills from my pocket and make one last surge toward the window. I push hard, and the way in front momentarily opens up when a young girl stumbles to the side – rookies! But I am not moving forward. I am being held back. I can't believe it. The old woman is holding me by the belt of my coat. That isn't in the rulebook.
Now, you might ask, isn't patience rewarded in Chinese culture? Didn't Hu Jintao wait fourteen years before becoming president? Yes – but keep in mind that Hu wasn't waiting in line for tickets to the European expressionism exhibition.
"You feisty old lady!" I scream, more out of awe than anger.
"Ay! Wait! I want to buy tickets!" the old woman is screaming along with the others in the crowd. I decide to unleash some Three Kingdoms – style war strategy, pitting two forces against each other by a third force, a tactic used after the fall of the Han dynasty, when China was divided into warring factions. I think this strategy is valid in a line for art museum tickets as well. I subtly push my opponent into a woman standing next to us, and as the two begin to quarrel, I make a triumphant rush to the ticket window.
I force my arm into the window and am now waving my bills feverishly at the cashier. I have made it. The cashier reaches for the money – but not swiftly enough. The woman is back at my side and, this time, tugs at my coat sleeve, pulling my arm – and, more important, my money – out of reach of the ticket seller.
"This is unprecedented," I think. I turn round – only to discover that the woman is my parents' neighbor, Grandma Liu. The atmosphere changes all of a sudden. In public, when we treat each other as strangers, we ignore how rude we act toward each other. But once we realize we know each other, the hostility melts away. We yield and help each other.
"Why'd you have to step on my toe, you brat," Grandma Liu says, smiling. "I ought to tell your father. Never mind. Let's go have tea first. I'm paying!"
"Let me help you get our tickets first," I say with a smile.
As I clutch the tickets just placed in my hand, I think, "Chivalry is alive and well in China. You just have to know where to look amid the rudeness."
Changes are evident everywhere. Just look at the skyline here. Indeed. I ponder that for a moment before making a note to remember Grandma Liu's patented coat-belt tug and arm pull for the next time I'm in a line.
35 City Girls and Country Girls
I go to an impoverished countryside to report on female hygiene and birth control methods. The women I interview talk to me about such exciting topics as rural abortions, improvised tampons, and child abandonment. Let's just say that, upon my return, I have a newfound appreciation for the conveniences of modern city life.