Fiction: Group 4
The Evolution of Dongguan
Island School, Li, Ethan - 14, Fiction: Group 4
s a part of Guangdong province, Dongguan is a major manufacturing hub and industrial center for
foreign companies. Besides, it is well known for its stunning Southern Chinese Cuisine, such as
Yum Cha and other dishes which require top skills.
My mom is a Dongguan resident, and she came to Hong Kong in the late 1940’s, few years after World
War 2 to escape from communist rule. In World War 2, her life was not really tough, even though the
foreign Allies had occupied her hometown. My mom said, they exchange canned foods for rice with the
villages. The allies were nice and friendly.
From 1960’s, because of the disastrous Great Leap Forward (1958-61) and Cultural Revolution (until
1976), this city was left with little or no infrastructure. Dongguan lacked basic food supply, as well as rice
and sugar. The humanitarian situation remained harsh until early 1980.
My family visited Dongguan in Mid-July 1978, 2 years after Mao’s death. It was the first time I met our
relatives in mainland.
“Where are we going?” I asked my mom. “We are heading to Dongguan, our family needs help.”
We took a train to the Luo Hu border, next to Shenzhen, ready to take a bus to the city. Our costumes
were quite old fashioned, as if they were out of this world. They told us that majority of foods were short in
supply, as well as basic costumes. Each person wore 3 pairs of second-hand trousers and 4 T-shirts to the
Royal immigration, along with few packs of grains and bottles of oil. No doubt to say, we were like
Penguins, waddling along. Buses to Dongguan were waiting for us.
The overnight bus trip was tough, unpaved and dirty roads made us sick. However, uncomfortable chairs
and atmosphere didn’t affect our sleepiness.
When we woke up, it was dawn and sun is ready to be risen. We were looking forward to the day, by the
warmth of the sun. Besides, it was just less than 20 kilometers to Dongguan.
We had arrived Dongguan at 7:30am. Though I had expected the city view would not be as developed as
Hong Kong, it still made me shock. Buildings were basic and ragged, with some gun shots left on the wall,
probably from continuous riots in the Cultural Revolution. Lots of beggars, some of them were even naked,
were begging money for their living and family. We were feared to be robbed, even in daytime.
Public transport were not trustworthy, therefore we walked to my relative’s house, it took about 20
minutes. I thought their house must be enormous and elegant, because they were really rich in the 60’s.
Sounds cool right? No, they were humiliated by those extreme communist who whipped China in Mao’s
rule. Something gross sprayed to their main entrance on an almost daily basis, and they were followed on the
street frequently. My mom mentioned that his cousin was beaten by gangsters and seriously injured few
years ago.
So we have arrived my relative’s house. It was a Villa, with a gorgeous garden around the house. No one
would ever expect that they were in need.
“Hi, love! How are you? Is everything ok? I have brought some foods and clothes for you all!” my mom
said.
“Thank you very much my dear!! The state government here has imposed limitation on our daily needs. We
are in the state of hunger since then.” her sister said.
“Oh no I am sorry to hear that. Maybe let’s have some Chinese Dim Sum in a restaurant somewhere
nearby? We didn’t have any breakfast and my daughters are starving.”
I could still clearly remember that Chinese Restaurant was called The Glory Restaurant. It was a grand
palace, with impressive statues around the hall. However, the food quality was disappointed. Because of the
food crisis, insanely amount of baking soda were used in Chinese Buns, in order to let the dough rise as
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