First light on the lake
Kunming begins softly. The city was already awake when I reached the water, but nothing felt hurried. Gulls folded and unfolded across the surface while the first tea stalls lifted their shutters.
By nine, the park had become a collection of small rituals: dancers under the banyans, old friends sharing cigarettes, a child teaching a grandmother to take a photograph. I stayed longer than I meant to.