Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 163

Future Adventures of the Greater Bay Area
Kennedy School, Yeung, Abbie - 8
One sunny morning in California, Crystal lay in bed with her eyes still half asleep. A smell of
dumplings woke her up. When she looked out the window, she recognized it was not California - the
signs on the shops were all Chinese, the people looked like they were from China. “I’ll go for an adventure
and see what wondrous things I will see!” She decided.
After a short while wandering on the street, a friendly man introduced himself to Crystal, “I am
Luca, your tour guide for your trip in the Greater Bay Area. Right now we are at Guangzhou.” Luca and
Crystal walked to a beautiful river. Water glistened in the sunlight and the horizon glittered beautifully - it
was Zhujiang (Pearl River)!
Luca rented a boat at a little hut by the shore. With the help of the operator, they set off with
paddles tight in their hands down the river. They saw a stranded kitten on the rock in the middle of the
river, frightened and desperate for help. So Crystal carefully picked her up. “Hello, little kitten” Crystal
said. The kitten trotted happily around Crystal and Luca’s legs. All of a sudden, Crystal noticed that the boat
bumped onto a rock and was sinking! They panicked and waved to the operator but he could not see them.
Luca speedily grabbed some seaweed to stuff up the holes in the boat and finally managed to fix it.
Crystal was very hungry after the boat trip. So Luca took her to a Chinese restaurant. Crystal tried
xiao long bao and mian tiao. She was thrilled how good they were, so she finished them as quickly as a lion
that hasn’t eaten in three months.
After lunch, they set off riding bikes and passed by some monuments in memory of Dr. SUN Yat
Sen. Luca told Crystal that Dr. SUN Yat Sen was the great leader of China, who led a revolution more than
a hundred years ago to establish the modern China. Crystal admired what Dr. SUN did very much. “There
is another city in the Greater Bay Area, Zhongshan named after Dr. SUN.” said Luca. “But now I am going
to take you to another wonderful city. Quick”
They arrived at a modern high speed rail station and saw a gigantic train with fancy decorations. As
soon as the door opened, they stepped in and collapsed on the comfy chair carpeted with the softest material
ever. A button manual on the chair reads:
® = fan
© = TV
♥ = junk food bar
♦ = any command (actually anything, the train has everything!)
“Got it!” said Crystal. She started pressing the ♦ button over and over again. One of her favorite
choices was a bowl that automatically poured chips in his mouth. Luca got a mouthful of chocolate from the
♥ button. “Welcome to Hong Kong. Enjoy your adventure!”
Right outside the station, they were stopped by a red chariot with a man wiping it with great care.
“I’m Andy. I’m going to show Hong Kong to you with this rickshaw today,” the man said. Crystal was so
excited that she bumped into the rickshaw. “Getting on the rickshaw is challenging, so just be careful.
Don’t stick your hands or head out. Have fun!” Andy explained.
“Andy, Lantau please,” Luca said. Andy started pulling and talking about interesting places in
Hong Kong. Crystal saw the Big Buddha far away. “Here we are. This is Ngo Ping 360 that leads to the
Big Buddha,” said Andy. Luca told Crystal that the Big Buddha was to celebrate the re-union of Hong
Kong to China in 1997 and has been a landmark of Hong Kong. They decently stepped on a cable car.
“Wow, it’s all glass,” said Crystal. Whenever a cable car came face to face with theirs, they waved hello.