Finding the Shenzhen I Knew in a New Coordinate System

The buildings were too new, too dense and too tall, and they all looked too much alike. Together, they formed an entirely new coordinate system. I knew I was in Futian’s central business district. The street names looked very familiar, yet I could not quite believe that these were the same streets I had once known. Then I suddenly saw the words “Futian Bus Station”. My God, I know this place. Many years ago, the area was still open and the bus station looked rather isolated. Now it is enclosed by layer upon layer of new towers. In the past, whenever I returned each year, I only had to add a few new buildings to the old map in my mind, and I could still know every street and major building in Futian inside out. But now that old map can no longer contain so many skyscrapers. I have to do the reverse—to place myself, along with the faint shadows of the old streets, into the new coordinates formed by these high-rises.

When I reached Shennan Avenue, I saw the China Merchants Bank Tower. It had once been one of the few tall buildings in the area, but now it was surrounded by buildings that were newer and taller. Only then did I regain my bearings. I was searching for the Shenzhen I knew within an unfamiliar coordinate system, and for my former self within a new time.

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