They arrived in Qinghai around six in the evening. The horizon was locked in the setting sun’s embrace, filling their view with a vast, fiery sea of orange. Waves crashed against the reefs while seagulls wheeled between the shore and the open water. Qiao Yu slipped off her shoes, and gathering the hem of her skirt, waded from the sand into the shallows. The water was cool, lapping at her ankles an