Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 548

The Greater Bay Area
Korean International School, Zyuzina, Alexandra - 16
With my bags packed and passport ready, I was on my way to finally experience the new life I had been
waiting for. My trip was long and dreadful, the whole time on the plane I could not stop thinking about
what was ahead for me; a new job, new apartment and most importantly a whole new lifestyle. The photos
and videos I had seen were mesmerizing, this place was a combination of new technology and advanced
science. Full of excitement I arrived at the main airport security check and was finally going to see what
everyone had been talking about. This was it, The Greater Bay. A place filled with international innovations
and applied technology, a union of large cities to create a diverse, advanced lifestyle for all people. This was
a way of building a globally competitive modern industrial system. I had read a lot about this city and the
advantages of moving here. It wasn’t long before I decided this was a perfect area to build up my future
career and explore possible opportunities.
I stepped out of the airport doors and straight away I saw a large number of skyscrapers, a completely new
form of advanced architecture. There were buildings of different designs and structures. Not only did I
notice the city, I noticed things like recycling machinery almost everywhere I walked past. Or the amount
of robotic technology that replaced regular human jobs. Very quickly my car had arrived and I headed to my
new apartment where I was going to spend the next 3 years of my life. The whole way there I was noticing
the infrastructure, bridges bonded the whole city with new high speed transportation, it was incredible, so
futuristic. I got to my apartment building, dropped off all my luggage and head straight to the city centre.
The city centre was filled with crowds of people either going home from work or going to the central malls.
I was starting work next week so I decided to spend the rest of the remaining time exploring the nearby
facilities and residence. This city had very low unemployment rates, which was pretty much one of the main
goals. The city centre was extremely noisy, one of the reasons being many new people moving here, just
like me. My friend had also decided to come to The Greater Bay Area, not to live, but to visit me for the
first months I’m settling in. For the amount of new technology I was in fact surprised to see numerous parks
and greenery.
The first few days of living there were very different for me, I had to adjust to several things like
transportation. The transportation wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before, that day I got one of the best, new
vehicle designs called ‘The Pods’. A type of transportation which strictly depends on air resistance and
friction, containing first class, business class and economy. First class was elegant and classy, tables full of
luxurious dishes provided for the passengers along with drinks. I was travelling quite far, I wanted to explore
most of The Greater Bay Area. The Greater Bay has several cities which were all considered one part, but
still were individually different.
Finally I got to ZhuHai, waiting for the arrival of my friend. I stayed in a hotel which was two massive
buildings both connected by glass bridges. This hotel included robots instead of maid service, fingerprint
door locks as well as private pod lifts that would take seconds to get you to your destination. Voice assistants
arranged the room number and check in, this place was unreal. Greater Bay Area had the most futuristic
technology you could think of: regenerative medicine, tactile virtual reality, smart food, instant wireless
charging and so much more. Scientists have taken years to come up with projects like these and I’m finally
experiencing it all in real life. I figured life was pretty much perfect here, but it also got me thinking about
the cost of everything and that I would need to find a well paying job soon if I wanted to continue being
here. Where I come from it is like a completely different world, everything old fashioned and not modern.
Iphones were still considered high tech devices, people did everything by hand. My family lives in a small
neighbourhood, almost in the middle of nowhere. Newspaper had gotten everyone talking about The
Greater Bay Area not only where I come from, but globally. Millions of people were trying to permanently
move here, which is great for the economy. However, one of the biggest problems with The GBA which I
watched on the news were people that didn’t agree with the union. They were known as the “outsiders”.
The outsiders had no interest with the merge and development of these places happening, they were
fighting against the government about their rights. “This is our home and we should have a say,'' a quote
that was often seen on local news platforms. The main issue was that there were more than thousands of
them on the outskirts, surrounding the giant walls that secured and guarded the whole city. They lived in
poorer conditions since there was pretty much no facilities located on the outside, but they were willing to
do whatever it took.
Several weeks have passed, I had gotten an internship for one of the local design companies. At this point I
wasn’t even focused on my career at all. News channels were blowing up with information about the