Fiction: Group 4
Shenzhen’s place in history results from its status as one of the first Special Economic Zones. It was
considered a testing ground for development of a new path to the future, residing near to the quickly
developing Hong Kong. Wai-ling remembers his father laughing at the very thought of Shenzhen as a
major city. His youth featured much of his Father’s tales of the past. Yet he simply could not comprehend
why history could amuse his Father so much.
However, as Wai-ling progressed through his youth his Father’s various comical reactions seemed
to become heart-warming. The advanced and modern Shenzhen he had been raised in was a new world. It
was an alien city built upon the same soil Sin-Feng had walked upon, and he found it amusing how things
could change. How could this city be built in such a short time? Wai-Ling chuckled to himself, alone inside
his office. His father had now been deceased for five years; but instead of sad thoughts, thoughts of love and
respect rushed to his mind. Comparing his lifestyle, working in the technology frontier and his Father’s at
his age, fishing in the harbour seemed a long way from the reality that now marked Wai-ling’s life.
Shenzhen may have experienced the greatest physical change in all of the Pearl River Delta. But,
Canton’s Fragrant Harbour sits on the Southern Coast of China and has also evolved considerably since it’s
days as a trading post.
Among Hong Kong’s many stationary shops, in Wanchai stands a man at the cash desk giving
change to a customer. Friendly goodbyes are exchanged as the customer leaves the shop. Smiling to himself,
the shop owner looks around his small store proudly. His eyes drift down the aisle of colourful pens, the
alluring fluorescent highlighters and the sharp pencils ready to pierce any page. Letting his eyes drift dreamily
towards the folders, stacked in colour according to the rainbow he is in paradise. Although any customer
may pick up on the white paint peeling off of the walls, or the crack in the left corner of the doorframe, no
one could deny the stationary was immaculately ordered and kept. This was his craft, and although some
would underestimate him by his occupation, to him there was nothing he would rather do.
Over the past twenty years, business had been good and the shop had prospered. It was without a
doubt that as the city of Hong Kong became wealthier, life had changed. A rising tide does lift all boats.
Now, at the ripe age of sixty he was ready to retire.
The love and passion that Fang had for his beloved store was still there. In many respects, he could
not think of letting it go. But he also felt there was unlikely to be a better time to stand aside. With the
success of his shop he had been able to pay for each of his three children to receive an enviable Education,
one that had enabled each of them to mature into bright and open-minded adults. He felt it was an
understatement to say he was a proud father. Each child had achieved success and all three were working in
the City’s financial district.
Fang believed that he had turned all of his hopes from dreams into reality and that he had won the
race in the pursuit of Happiness. His stationary store to him was like Romeo to Juliet, Mark Antony to
Cleopatra or Adam to Eve.
Three men, three different lives in three different parts of the Pearl River Delta: one looking back
on a simpler time before change arrived in Macau; a second reminiscing about his father yet looking forward
to the future in a transformed Shenzhen; a third turning the page on a career as a shop owner who has
thrived in the transformation of Hong Kong into one of the world’s great financial centres.
Their stories are tales of change and progress. The Pearl River Delta continues to evolve and with
it more stories will emerge. But underneath, some constants remain: a people who believe in hard work and
family; a place rich in natural resources and attractive to many; an economic zone with huge potential for
further growth.
From Macau to Shenzhen to Hong Kong, three lives lived in the midst of great change.
