In the beginning of the 1990s I spent some time at the university Shaanxi Shifan Daxue 陕西师范大学 in Xian conducting research on contemporary Chinese literature. I absolutely loved the work of writers such as Su Tong 苏童 and Ma Yuan 马原. My research at the time focused on Ma Yuan, an amazing writer who I think was one of the most influential ones in the developments of contemporary Chinese literature. He was criticized and discussed over and over and over again in China but I think he never got the international attention he deserves.
In the months I spent between dusty newspapers and magazines, being the only foreigner at the library then, the smell of dust became quite familiar. I also remember very well how I used to love the music playing at the whole campus at certain times during the day. Until one day I realized how our lives at the campus were not only livened up but also controlled and organized by way of that music. When I tried to find out where it came from (I really loved it and I wanted to get a copy of it) no one could tell me who put it on or where I could find it.
When I went to Peking University recently the smell and the feel of the dusty books catapulted me back in time. I was absolutely amazed to find exactly the same environment today as the one I had known a few decades ago. Modernization of China certainly left some places untouched.