The New Tales of Old Shanghai
Po Leung Kuk Hong Kong Taoist Association Yuen Yuen Primary School , Leung , Maytin - 11
T his happened in Shanghai in the 1900s . The city called Paris of the East , New York of the West woke up as the sun shone its first ray of light . A trickle of people quickly became a crowd , and trams and pulleys appeared on the streets like a river . In a small room in a small apartment , a girl named Ying began her day . Ying threw her blanket away to the corner of the bed and looked at the busy street outside her window . The sun was quite high already .
Ying groaned and got out of bed . She quickly got dressed , opened the door and quickly washed . Then she went into the living room . As usual , a plate of tofu and a full cup of soya bean milk awaited her . Being the fast eater she was , Ying ate a piece of tofu in one bite and drained a quarter of the soya milk in one gulp . In a few minutes , breakfast was already finished .
Ying took her school bag and started out of the door . The busy street of Shanghai was open to her . Ying has always loved the walk to school . It let her see a lot of stories . They were better than any book .
Out in the street , three buses were going down the street . They told Ying the story of their creation , how they were put together by scraps of metal , and how they were driven day after day by hard working drivers .
Ying looked higher as she walked . Near her house , there was a big cinema , It had a curved globe for a roof . Ying could practically see The architect who designed the house bit by bit , night after night . There were more stories there than anywhere else , with its huge number of customers , each with a different tale to tell .
Walking to the school , Ying could see restaurants with delicious dishes , pedestrians walking to work , travelers who wanted to see a bigger world . And Ying loved every bit of it .
Soon , the school appeared . It wasn ’ t very big , it had white walls , and it had students who wanted to learn inside . Ying walked through the front door and looked at the clock embedded on the wall . Seven forty-five . Fifteen minutes until the bell rang . Still early .
Ying walked into her classroom and handed in her homework . It wasn ’ t much , just some chinese and maths worksheets . Ying went back to her seat and daydreamed about stories .
The teacher walked into the classroom . She was holding a bunch of papers . Probably more worksheets , Ying thought . But the teacher said , “ This is the entry paper for an art competition . Draw a picture of Shanghai that you experience and hand it in to me next monday if you want to join .”
Ying desperately wanted to join . To put the stories she saw to life … it was just tempting . She might not win , but just participating was enough . There was one problem though . She didn ’ t know what to draw .
After school , Ying went home . Her mother was waiting for her . “ We ’ re going to the flower market tonight . It ’ s time for our house to have a few decorations .”
In the flower market , Ying and her mother walked through a huge crowd . “ It ’ s normally like this .” Ying ’ s mother said . Behind the huge crowd , Ying could see flower shops lining up nicely at her two sides .
The shops were full of all kinds of beautiful flowers . Lilies , cherry blossoms , poppies … name it , and they have it . Ying looked at the market in wonder . She could see hundreds of stories . Should she use this scene for the competition ?
Ying ’ s mother led her to one of the shops , cutting off Ying ’ s thoughts . The shop had a red carpet with a red and orange phoenix on it . It was pretty . There were a lot of flowers on display in huge buckets near the walls .
Ying ’ s mother looked closely at the flowers , trying to decide between cherry blossoms and lilies . Ying suddenly didn ’ t want to use the flower market for the competition scene . There was really nothing else except for flowers and people . It was all so … boring .
Ying ’ s mother finally decided to buy cherry blossoms . Ying agreed with her . The cherry blossoms were beautiful . The pair walked out of the shop after they bought the blossoms .
The next day , Ying woke up to see a whole bunch of cherry blossoms in the living room . They were beautiful , but were absolutely dull and boring . They worked well as decorations , but were no good whatsoever at being works of art .