Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 566

A Mysterious Adventure in Old City of Shanghai
Ying Wa Primary School, Leung, Cheuk Ting – 11
PRESENT
“Finally!” I said. “It is my first day here!” I said excitedly. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Tom, and I
participated in an exchange programme in Shanghai. The project of the program is to study the architecture style
and history of Old City of Shanghai. I had a roommate called Max. He is humorous and likes to cheer people up.
The other day, we went to visit Old Shanghai. While we were walking, I showed off my “brainy-talking
skills” and introduced the buildings (I found a lot of information on the Internet at night of the first day while Max
was sleeping). “Okay, now you see, this is the Shanghai Old City Wall. It was built to defend itself against Japanese
pirates.” I continued, “The Dajing De Pavilion is a temple on the Shanghai Old City Wall. And the Yuyuan
Garden was built in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) named Pan Yunduan.”
We took many photos and went back to our hotel to review them. We are ready for the project.
1845-PAST
The next morning, Max and I woke up very early and went out for a walk. But Max and I felt very strange.
The newly-developed buildings had disappeared. The people wore old-fashioned clothes there. There were no
cars on the road but rickshaws.
“Where are we?”Max asked.
“I don’t know,”I replied.
I suddenly remembered some old buildings. I remembered I took some photos of them.
Oh no, we are back to the past.
We were frightened. But then, I was excited.
“Max, do you remember the purpose of this trip?”I asked.
“Yes, it is to study the architecture style and history of the Old City of Shanghai,”Max said.
“Yes, let’s go to the Old City of Shanghai to take photos and prepare more materials for our project,” I said.
“Then let’s go!”Max exclaimed.
While we were walking, someone stopped us. We were first puzzled, but then we saw a group of workers
repairing a road. We asked them who they were. They said,”Some of us are workers from the Shanghai Municipal
Council. A group of Western businessmen met and formed this group to organize road repairs, refuse clearance
and collect tax across the concessions.Blah blah blah...”
While the worker was explaining, the road collapsed. Max and I fell into it.
1936-”THE ORPHANS”
When we recovered, we saw guns, grenades, battle planes...
Suddenly, a soldier shouted at us, “Where did you two come from?”
Max learnt Japanese last year, so he told me that they asked where did we came from.
I whispered, “Quick, make an excuse!”
Max said, “We are Japanese orphans. We lost our Mum and Dad. We are finding them.”
Then, the soldier saw us holding our cameras. He was suspicious(it may be a bomb, right?). He asked again,
“What are you holding?”
Max answered, “Those are toys that we played when we were five. I enjoy it a lot so I bring it every day.”
The Japanese soldier warned us, “Always be careful because now it is the Battle of Shanghai. You two may
get killed by Chinese soldiers. Hey! Don’t go that way! That way is the way to the remaining Shanghai City Wall.
It is for the Shanghainese to defend their city. There are a lot of soldiers up there! (Note: There were not the word
“old” because it was the time in 1933-1936)”
We didn’t listen to the soldier. We went near the city wall and took some photos. But then, “BOOM!” a
rocket missile hit the floor. We were scared. More bullets, more explosions. We hid in a shop that was abandoned.
The sign wrote ‘White Rabbit Creamy Candy Shop’. After a few seconds, the sound stopped. We peeked out of
the window. There were Chinese soldiers arresting Chinese people. I was puzzled. Why?