There are many ugly, white-tile buildings in China. This is one of the more tasteful of these kinds of buildings. If I remember correctly it was the admin building of the high school...The secondary school system in China is quite different from that in the United States. After middle school, a test (somewhat akin to the SAT) determines where you can go to high school. Some people do not get in at all. This is how Melody got to go to the high school in Sanming rather than the school in the small town she grew up in.