Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 352

The New Tales of Old Shanghai
St. Joseph's College, Chan, Rafael - 12
P
arco was a student majoring in History at university. A few weeks ago, he was on vacation to the city of Shanghai. In fact,
he had been assigned by his professor to do a special research project on the history of this ancient Chinese city. He had
two months to finish his work, and a week had already passed, but he still hadn’t started anything yet.
Parco stepped inside a sacred temple in the city of Shanghai. He hoped that he would be joined by a guided tour. However, the
temple looked unexpectedly quiet with no one at all. It was decorated with jade and crystals, with a statue of Buddha in the
centre of the main hall. There was a scepter with a blue orb in the Buddha’s hand, which made it look solemn and mythical.
He didn’t know that this temple contained mystic magic, according to a legend.
Out of curiosity, Parco cautiously touched the glittering blue orb. It was a big mistake. A flash sparkled out and temporarily
blinded him. When he resumed his eyesight, he was in the middle of a crowded street. Hawkers were selling food and local stuff,
carriages and rickshaws were running busily down the streets. Then, he walked up to a passer-by and asked him what date it was.
The man gave him a strange stare, and told him to flip through the newspaper. When Parco saw the date on t he newspaper, he
gasped in disbelief. He was in the Old City of Shanghai of the 19 th century!
But what startled him wasn’t just the date. It was the year itself, because that was the exact year when his grandfather was born.
And most importantly, perhaps it was a coincidence, his great grand-parents and grandfather lived in the Old City of Shanghai.
Now all he wanted to do was to find the house where his great grand-parents lived. His father had once told him that his great
grand-parents were kind-hearted and very caring. They were always loved and respected by their neighbours. They lived in a
shabby little house with a small pine tree near the Great Eastern Gate. But Parco didn’t know where it was. So he decided to try
his luck by walking down the main street, hoping that he would find the right place.
During his long walk from the south-side to the far eastern side, Parco noticed that most local Shanghainese spoke Shanghai
dialect instead of Mandarin, girls wore Cheongsams or western dresses rather than modern tees and jeans, gentlemen put on
their hats as formal dressing, and there was also a bunch of foreigners hanging around the streets. The traditional Shanghai
buildings with a touch of the style of the western architecture also caught the eyes of many visitors, not to mention that Parco
was a first-time visitor to Shanghai. All these fascinated Parco very much and he couldn’t afford to blink for a second. He
also chattered with some locals to get a better understanding of the local culture, the origin and the surrounding of this ancient
city. He couldn’t resist to write down as much as he saw and as much as he heard. After all, he still remembered that he
needed to finish his special project on the history of Old Shanghai in a couple of weeks.
Tired and weary, he slowly made his way to the old street market nearby to get some food. Suddenly, he heard a loud voice
from his back. “Hello!” He turned to see an old man. When their eyes met, both just stared at each other in silence. There was
something familiar in the old man’s face, but Paro couldn’t figure it out at once. Finally, the old man spoke, “I could see that
you are quite worn out, so … are you new here?” Parco nodded. “Well then, where are you heading?” Parco told him his
destination, and all of a sudden, the old man seemed very surprised. He told Parco that he lived there, and asked him why he