Recently, there was a frenzy of activity as the campus prepared for an inspection by the Mayor of Lanzhou. Freshmen and sophomores were excused from some of their classes so that they could wash windows and scrub floors in dorms and classroom buildings. Students tiptoed along the ledges to wash the glass on the outside. (That's B, one of five academic buildings, with its gleaming windows.)

On the day and hour of the visit, the foreign English teachers were summoned for a phony English Corner in the Rose Garden. We stood around and chatted with the English majors who had dutifully appeared; I don't know whether our performance was observed by the visiting delegation. A few days later, one of my sophomore students fulfilled an assignment by writing a news story about the event. She noted, in part:

"Some students came from every department to clean the surroundings, as well as some teachers. The whole campus looked very clean and beautiful. . . . In the afternoon, the president accompanying, the mayor inspected works in the campus. . . . Finally, the mayor gave us a wonderful talk. He said, 'The United University is better than I thought.'"