When night falls in the city, it falls hard. Sometimes, I think it’s just me out there blindly groping for some kind of solid mass while everyone else saunters about with elven grace. But in October, my mother came to visit and as we returned to my apartment late one evening, she asked, “Is this safe for you to walk alone at night?”
Frankly, I think I live in a pretty safe area of town and I’ve personally never felt truly afraid, aside from the odd apocalyptic nightmare. But I understand her skepticism. I don’t know if Chinese people have Edmond Dantes’ post prison time eye sight or what, but the city goes extremely dark after sunset. I mean really dark. Even the odd street light doesn’t do much to dissipate the super dense darkness.
Perfectly sweet and innocent streets during the day become perfectly sweet and innocent streets that suddenly make you feel as if you are in the harrowing beginning of a horror movie. And it’s not just the quiet little neighborhood streets that are cast in shadow. Busy thoroughfares and traffic meccas maintain an eerie haze as well. The odd street lamp is of little help and are far from being abundant enough to make a difference. It’s also possible that the nightly humid fog combined with the ever present smog further add to the feeling of a thick blanketing darkness.
My apartment complex is also super dark and starts to quiet down after seven. All of the retirees are retiring to their houses. All of the families are eating or finishing dinner. The beer lady is beginning the two hour process of closing her shop. And there are absolutely no lamps. None. Only the lights peering through draped windows give any semblance of guidance.
Fortunately, I’ve gotten over the odd chill I used to feel during my wary and uncertain search for my apartment building when I first got here. Now, I can walk down the darkest of street with confidence and not flinch when someone emerges out of the shadows. And by someone I usually mean short older ladies with canes.
The stairwell up to my apartment holds to the Shanghai tradition of darkness as well. When I first turn my key to the entrance way, the lights (at least those that work) flicker on for about thirty seconds. The first floor landing is lit and the third floor landing is lit. Floors two, four and five are not, and six usually flickers off somewhere between locating the correct key and finding the keyhole. In the first few weeks I lived here, I would clumsily attempt to navigate my way through the darkness and try to squash down my fear of a sudden stairway attack. But now, I can confidently climb the stairs with little to no light. I used to fumble around at my door trying to find the correct key and insert it into the illusive keyhole all in the pitch black. But now, I can get that door open in record time and with my eyes closed (note: this last bit is untested).
Perhaps I’ve learned to live without my eyesight or perhaps you can begin to call me the Count, but whatever it is, I think someone needs to work on getting some lights in this city. Especially when night has already well fallen by 5 p.m… But then again, it could just be me.
