We went to China fast.
Too fast to pretend we understood it.
The commission was clear. Subway signage in Xi’an. A Chinese company. A system that had to work underground, in motion, without language getting in the way. Signage is never decoration. It is trust. People follow lines because they believe someone thought ahead.
We passed through Shanghai first. Shanghai hits you all at once. Glass towers rising next to broken sidewalks. Neon reflections over old men playing cards. Money moving fast. History standing still. It is booming and fractured at the same time. Order and chaos sharing the same street. You feel acceleration in your chest. You smell oil, rain, electricity.
There was no time to linger. Just enough to notice the contradiction. Enough to know it was real.
Xi’an was different. Heavier. Older. The city carries weight. The walls are not symbolic. They are still there. Underground, the subway moved with discipline. Platforms clean. Trains precise. People quiet but alert. This is where the work mattered.
We walked stations. Measured distances. Tested sightlines. Watched how people read space without reading words. Arrows. Colors. Negative space. A good sign disappears when it works.
Above ground, the air tasted dry. Food was direct. Noodles pulled by hand. Spice without apology. No performance. Just function and depth.
The trip was short. Meetings, inspections, decisions. No ceremony. China does not waste time when something needs to be built.
We left knowing we had only touched the surface. But sometimes that is enough. A line drawn correctly. A direction made clear. Movement without friction.
China, it builds.
