Fiction: Group 3
rule, Hong Kong was not made a free port, nor was it an entrepot. So foreign trading was not popular, and
so were the cultural exchanges between China and other countries. That was why all the things in my room
were in Chinese style.
Now that I knew what this world was all about, the fact seemed to weigh me down. My vision
even sharpened, as if a wall of mist had just cleared up, allowing me to notice a lot more details in my room
than before: I had lost my pencil bag, and instead there was a set of Chinese writing brushes of all different
sizes hung on a wooden stand. Along with them, of course, were an ink stone and an ink stick.
Great, just
great,
I thought.
Great inconvenience.
Another thing I noticed was that there was a faint greenish light seeping into my room through the
gap under the old-fashioned curtains. I yanked them open immediately and saw a huge plain of grass. It was
so large in size that I could not even see where it led to. I could not believe my eyes. I stood so still and
silently that I could have heard a mosquito flying past.
Seeing such a view in front of me, I could have screamed and run out of the room, I could have
pinched myself in the cheek to see if I was hallucinating, but all I did was stand. Then a cow walked by the
window and mooed.
I lived on a farm. I let that sink in. Still, it didn’t make any sense. Then, it struck me. I recalled
something my History teacher had said about the British rule in Hong Kong boosting its economic
development as well as commerce industries. Without the influence of the British rule, however, Hong
Kong developed at a surprisingly slow pace.
Yet, what are the other parts of the Pearl River Delta like in this world?
My mind went racing. I suddenly realized that a Hong Kong without the improvements made during
the British rule also affected areas around Hong Kong, the Pearl River Delta. Without the motivation from
Hong Kong’s great economic development, the Pearl River Delta Special Economic Zone policy probably
would not have been carried out. Also the mixture of European and Chinese culture would not have been
so popular in the Pearl River Delta.
I ran out of my room to find my mum. So many questions rushed into my head that I didn’t know
which one to ask first.
“Mum, how are the other parts of the Pearl River Delta nowadays?” I asked.
“Oh, they are just like Hong Kong. We all farm for our living. There is no other source of food apart
from local production, you know. So we have to work very hard,” she answered.
“What about their culture? Do they use things imported from other countries?”
“As I have told you, Hong Kong simply reflects what it is like in other parts of China. There is not
much difference between them. We do not have many imported goods, nor do they,” she replied. “Why
are you suddenly so interested in these?”
I shook my head in confusion. This must not be true. The Pearl River Delta, the one in
my
world, is
one of the most rapidly developing areas in China. And now, it has become scarcely populated, isolated
from the culture of foreign countries, and slow-paced.
I heard the teacher call my name. I woke up from my dream and blinked hard. I was still having my
History lesson. It had all been a dream, but a very real one. The teacher looked at me disapprovingly, and
my face turned bright red. My classmates snickered.
My new tale of the Pearl River Delta had not been an enjoyable one. It is amazing how one single
event in the past can change everything. If I were to choose, I would prefer History lessons to the world that
I just dreamed of.
