001 First Encounter with Dubai: Luxury and Discipline

When I first arrived in Dubai, it was the fiercest heat of August. The moment I stepped out of the airport, a wall of humid air slammed into me; before half a minute had passed, sweat was already streaming down my body.

“I knew Dubai was hot, but this is absurd. And we still have to spend four years here in this weather!” Lian Pian was wearing a black camisole with only a light gauze cardigan over it. Right then, she was dragging her suitcase with one hand and fanning herself furiously with the gauze in the other, her pale shoulder flashing into view now and then.

Beside us, a Muslim man in white robes glanced over at her, his expression dark with displeasure, his brows nearly knotted together. I hurriedly pressed down Lian Pian’s restless hand and shook my head at her with my lips pursed.

“What is it?” she asked, baffled.

“Don’t forget where we are. This is Dubai. People can be punished here for kissing in public. Watch your words and your behavior.”

Only then did Lian Pian realize it. She immediately gathered her clothes properly and covered her shoulders. Seeing this, the man in white finally looked away, his expression easing a little.

Before coming to Dubai, I had already heard that religious rules here were extraordinarily strict, so I had not dared bring a single off-the-shoulder top or pair of shorts that rose above the knee. Lian Pian was not as cautious as I was; she packed whatever she liked and said that coming to Dubai meant enjoying a life of luxury. Even so, once she truly arrived, she had no choice but to rein in her flamboyance.

“Hey, Min Xixi, Lian Pian, I’m here!” A familiar Chinese voice rang out. Lian Pian and I turned, and there was Senior Yin Qianyan, come to pick us up.

Lian Pian and I had come to Dubai through a government-sponsored study-abroad program jointly arranged by our university. We were given full scholarships for two years of master’s study, then required to work for Dubai’s oil industry for another two years, making a total contract of four years. Female students were rare in oil-related majors. Senior Yin Qianyan had arrived a year earlier than we had and was the only girl in the previous cohort. Our group had nine exchange students in all, seven boys and two girls, and the others had already arrived at school a day before us.

Senior Yin Qianyan helped us load our luggage into the taxi trunk and opened the door for us. “Come on, get in.”

I noticed that this taxi had the rare pink roof, meant only for female drivers and passengers. Looking outside the airport and seeing a line of red-roofed taxis with male drivers waiting there, my heart tightened again.

Dubai was already considered the most open country in the entire Middle East, yet even the roofs of the cars differed according to gender. I drew a deep breath and looked out at the towering buildings lining the streets, all kinds of architecture rising abruptly from the ground, many of them bizarre and wildly imaginative, and for a moment it felt as if I had stepped into a brilliant dream.

“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you something earlier.” From the front passenger seat, Yin Qianyan turned back and said calmly, “The graduate school was only recently established, and almost everyone studying for a master’s here in Dubai is male, so the school doesn’t yet have a dormitory for female graduate students.”

“What?” My pulse jumped, and sweat began to run down my neck again. “Then where are we supposed to live? Weren’t we told the school would handle housing?”

“Don’t worry, let me finish.” Yin Qianyan smiled brightly. “In a five-star hotel the school has invested in, the administration has arranged a suite for each of us. Until the dormitory is built, we’ll be staying there.”

A suite in a five-star hotel! Just hearing that was exciting enough, and by the time Lian Pian and I actually arrived at the hotel, our excitement was almost impossible to contain.

It combined splendor and extravagance, with luxury visible in every direction. Gold and blue complemented one another, lending the entire lobby a grand and imposing air. After Yin Qianyan explained our purpose to the hotel concierge, he handled all our check-in formalities for us, and Lian Pian and I needed only to sit comfortably on the sofa, savoring a cup of coffee while we waited.

Suddenly, one word came to mind: ostentation. Yet a series of later experiences would prove that even what I had encountered today in Dubai was far from the limit of luxury.

The concierge led us to our room and carefully introduced every facility inside. There was a living room, a dressing room, a work area, and a washroom; the space was even more generous than I had imagined. Compared with the cramped six-person dormitory rooms back home, it was the difference between heaven and earth.

“Amazing!” Lian Pian deliberately lowered her voice, but the awe in it still could not be concealed. “I really hope the dormitory is never finished. For this free hotel suite, I’d gladly endure the heat and the mortifying rules of an Islamic country!”

I smiled without comment.

Dubai was like some dreamer’s fantasy, pushing everything to the very limits of exaggeration. Facing this city built on gold, I was filled with longing and a little fear. But whatever else might happen, from the moment the plane touched down, I had been destined to begin a completely new four years of life here.