The Great Wall
Cathy Fong, Group 2: Fiction, St. Paul’s Convent School Primary
ne sunny summer, I went to Beijing to see the Great Wall. I was very excited since it was the first
time I had walked on it. I was as proud as a peacock. The Great Wall had once been a long, brave
dragon who had defended the invaders from other countries. That morning, the air was fresh and the
trees were as if they were greeting the visitors. I was leisurely walking with my family while enjoying
the beautiful view and breathing in the fresh air. I ran down a slope…
Ba-Boom! I dropped into a deep narrow hole with spikes all around it. I tumbled down as I was knocked
around; it was dreadful. I took a quick glance at where I had landed and realized that I was in an underground
cave with words written all over the wall; it looked like a museum. As I walked deeper and deeper down into the
cavern, I began to quiver with fright. I recognized the names on the wall and realized that I as in the Widows’
Tower. The Widows’ Tower was built after twelve soldiers had lost their lives while building the Huang Ya
Guan. Their wives were heartbroken after hearing the news, so they used the payment they had received from
the emperor to build the Widows’ Tower in memory of their husbands.
O
I jumped up in the air as twelve ghosts swooped down from the tower. I was terrified. All of a sudden, a
gigantic hand got hold of me and pushed me into a creepy, horrid and silent tunnel. The tunnel ended up in an
elevator, which turned out be a time machine. With a jolt, I was suddenly transferred into ancient times!
I walked along the majestic Great Wall and saw a lovely garden. I went inside and sat down on the bench to
rest. I met a woman named Meng Jiang Nu who was happily chatting with her husband, Fan Qi Liang. Fan Qi
Liang told me how they had built the Great Wall. He said that they had to build it day and night without
stopping, without eating and without drinking.
Without any warning, I heard a man bellowing in a gruff tone behind me. I quickly turned around and saw
the emperor standing right behind us. The emperor snatched and ordered us to go back to work and continue
building the Great Wall. We stacked one brick onto another brick and another onto another brick…my hands
were so tired that they started to bleed and swell up. We worked for hours and hours, day and night. The
emperor commanded us to carry bricks up to the mountain. I begged the emperor to let us rest a while, but he
demanded us to continue and he struck me with a whip. We were constantly beaten for being too slow or for
taking a rest. It was terrible; my entire body was red as a monkey’s butt from all the whipping!
Thousands people were busily building the Great Wall. We used bricks and stones to build it so that it
would be stronger than by just using rammed earth. Some built watchtowers which were constructed over the
walls so that the soldiers could patrol the invaders. Some people became exhausted and eventually collapsed. It
was a heartbreaking sight.
Winter came and my hands were freezing, but the emperor forced us to continue. He made us work and
work. Unfortunately, Fan Qi Liang’s body could not take the harsh conditions and he died on a cold and rainy
day. He was buried in the Great Wall.
I became weaker and weaker while the Great Wall became stronger and stronger. My body could not take it
anymore and I passed out.
“
Breakfast is ready!” my mother yelled.
I got out of bed and felt a lump in my pockets. I looked at it closed and realized it was a fragment of brick.
Had this just been a dream?
I have written this story to honour and thank all those people who built the Great Wall which has protected
China for many years. On the other hand, I think that the emperor was cruel and brutal because he caused many
people to die by forcing them to build it.
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