Driving down one of Beijing’s broad boulevards one evening, I chanced upon a tall building with dozens of students seated on the steps outside. Was it a dharna? Were they protesting about something? My taxi driver laughed. They are waiting to enter the library, he told me. It was around 5 pm and so I asked him if the library opened only in the evening. He laughed again. The library is open till late night from early morning, the students outside the building are waiting for chairs to be vacated by those inside so that they. . .
