Checking into a hotel on East Chang’an Avenue next to Tiananmen Square with passports containing J2 journalist visas one day after Donald Trump’s departure, two days before Vladimir Putin’s visit, and three weeks before June Fourth could be read in two ways. We were either too naïve—the type of foreigners who were far too foolish to be suspicious—or we were simply stupid. In Beijing, both candour and stupidity invite attention.

After a brief production meeting at the hotel bar, I went back to my room. The hotel phone rang while I was in the shower. The sound was shrill, more alarming because I hadn’t told anyone my room number. I let it ring. Later, I found two missed calls from a Beijing number on my own phone. I called back.

“Are you Shu Xinrou?”

“Yes. What’s the matter?”

“The group of foreigners who checked in with you are on J2 visas. What flight did you take to Beijing? And what exactly are you doing here on journalist visas?”

 

• Tags: China, Issue 45, Xinrou Shu