That afternoon Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing took the sightseeing shuttle and went to Ruqin Lake first, then on to Jinxiu Valley. The mountains and water there are lovely to begin with. Dressed up in snow, they were something out of a fairyland.

Once it got dark the two of them took the shuttle back to the hotel, called down for two dinners, and after they had eaten — perhaps because they were worn out — went to bed early.

Before it was light the next day, the alarm on the phone went off, chiming away.

Xu Ye turned it off. Chen Qingqing burrowed out from under the covers and leaned against him, her eyes barely open. "Do we have to get up?"

"Mm. We said we'd go and see the sunrise today."

Chen Qingqing wrapped both arms around him and said in a small voice, "But I don't want to get up."

"Come on. Be good."

Xu Ye stretched, felt for the switch on the bedside lamp and got dressed. Chen Qingqing was still lying there refusing to move, so he pulled the covers off her and lifted her straight up off the bed.

She put her arms around his neck, rested her head on his shoulder, and stayed there wheedling at him for a good while before she would put her clothes on and go into the bathroom with him to wash.

It was only four thirty when they came out of the hotel, and the road wasn't deserted either — there were a few young people scattered along it, all of them heading for Hanpokou to watch the sunrise.

By the time Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing reached it, the sun had just pushed one corner of itself up over a distant summit. Several of the peaks were still wrapped in heavy fog, and as the sun came slowly up it turned not only the clouds red but the far-off fog too, and the sun itself was like a lump of iron heated to melting, burning a hole through the sky.

Xu Ye got his phone out,…