I am usually not too picky about my sleeping quarters when I travel. On my recent trip to China however, I met a really friendly university student on the bus who offered to help me scout out a relatively clean and conveniently located hotel near Shandong University. The place turned out to be more than adequate and I enjoyed numerous conversations with the half dozen or so staff there during the five days I was there.
One morning, however, I woke up to what seemed to be the sound of a jack hammer drilling into my hotel room wall. I managed to ignore it but when as I walked out of my room, I found the source of the noise as soon as I opened the door:
