Fiction: Group 2
Stories of Three Generations in Pearl River Delta
HKUGA Primary School, Chan, Jimmy - 11, Fiction: Group 2
he thing that makes me enjoy Chinese New Year the most is when we all go and visit grandpa. He
will sit down in the middle of all of us and share his fascinating old stories with us. I often find
myself amazed by the fact that there can be so many changes over time. Here is a story about the
lives of three generations in my family - my grandfather, my dad and me between two cities: Hong Kong
and Guangzhou.
Fifty years ago, my grandfather was a farmer. As he said, he had a really routine life. He woke up at
five o’clock in the morning every day to feed the animals, water the crops and get the milk and eggs. He
worked really hard but his income was low so that he could only live in a hut and had just enough to live.
He had never traveled on a plane because he had no money or chances. He didn’t even know what a plane
was. He thought it was a giant bird that could carry people to different places. He worked in the hot and
dirty field. It was quite boring and exhausting to do the same thing every day. When he sold his crops and
animals to the merchants, he needed to take trains or cars to that place to make some money. It took him
three to four hours for every journey. He was really poor. As for Hong Kong, my grandfather didn’t dare to
think about moving to another place for a job, primarily because he thought it would be the same
everywhere. This was a typical farmer’s life 50 years ago in the Pearl River Delta.
Thirty years ago, my dad became a factory worker after he finished his school. He didn’t want to be a
farmer so he seized the chance and moved to Hong Kong to be a factory worker. Back then, he worked in a
clothes factory for more than ten hours every day. It was really boring as you needed to repeat doing the
same things every day. My father’s income was more than a farmer’s, but he still had to live in an iron-sheet
house. The factory he worked at was so dirty and polluted that you could barely breathe. He traveled on a
plane once but that’s the only time in about the first 30 years of his life. He went to Beijing with my mom
for their honeymoon. As my dad recalls, “It was a very small aircraft with probably 50 seats only. It was
crowded as all the seats were densely arranged.” He didn’t get any in-flight meals for that journey, and it
wasn’t a very comfortable experience after all. Although everything was not as pleasant as he wanted it to be,
it was still very convenient. Years later, my dad became the boss because of his hard work. He set up his
factory in Guangzhou and he always needs to take the train back to Guangzhou. He doesn’t need to wake
up early for the train ride because the train has become much faster and runs more frequently than before.
He opened the factory in Guangzhou because the wages there are low and he can employ more workers. If
more people are employed, fewer people work in the farm and can have a job in the city. Now he has a big
and famous factory. This is the story of my dad – a businessman in the transitional period of Pearl River
Delta.
Now it is time for my story. I am thankful to my parents for providing me with a good quality of life
and good educational opportunities. Now I am a professional merchandiser working for my own company
in Hong Kong. Because of the nature of my job, I have many chances to travel as I need to go to different
countries to negotiate and do trades with other people. The working environment is much better than my
dad’s and my grandpa’s. I work in a well-furnished, air-conditioned modern office while back then they
could only work under some fans. Another big change is I often use a computer and the Internet for my
work as most communications are done online now. The income of a merchandiser is really good. Last year,
I bought my own flat and it’s my cozy home now. I’ve traveled to many countries. Some are work trips and
some are just leisure trips with my family. Nowadays, the planes are much more comfortable and faster than
the ones before. The service on the plane is also good. They provide you with tasty food and a quilt for you
to sleep better. With just a glimpse of my story, you can see how advanced the Pearl River Delta is now.
Many changes have happened over the past 50 years. Things are more convenient than before, such as
transportation. You just need a few hours to get to other places. Because of the technological development,
more and more people can work in a clean and tidy place instead of a messy and dirty one. The planes in the
Pearl River Delta are now really advanced. They offer good service and comfortable seats. Now, everyone
can talk with each other easily using their mobile phones. In my grandpa’s time, life in the Pearl River Delta
was quite behind other countries. In my dad’s times, things got better. More people started to work in
factories instead of farming in the field. The Pearl River Delta is changing from villages to modern cities.
The best times are, of course, now. We can work under the air-conditioners. Our working environment is
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