I staggered outside before dawn and was ushered into a van. The door slid shut and darkness enveloped me. The van started moving. About half an hour later we were outside the city limits. The vehicle came to an abrupt halt. I stepped out. A truck was parked ahead of me. Further ahead I saw a crew dressed in combat fatigues assembling several large canisters, a basket, and a massive amount of multicoloured material into something altogether extraordinary.
It was around five in the morning. I was in the outskirts of Yangshuo, surrounded by magnificent karst peaks and a crew of workers putting together my means to see them from above. I went to inspect their handiwork. Suddenly a massive flame leapt into the air. I turned away, the heat glancing of my stubble in a ferociously sexy manner. The workers eagerly motioned me towards them. I walked towards the fire and climbed into the basket beneath it. I closed my eyes and felt myself floating up into the sky.
*****
"Sometimes you are overwhelmed when a thing comes, and you do not realize the magnitude of the affair at that moment. When you get away from it, you wonder, did it really happen to you?" ~ Marian Anderson
