New Tales of the Great Wall
Raphael Chun Yin Man, Group 3: Fiction, St. Joseph's College
he Great Wall of China which we can see today was built in the Ming Dynasty to secure the Chinese
from Mongolian invaders. Many people who have been to the Great Wall think that there is nothing but
wilderness beyond it, and that there is no life in the rocky hills where it lies.
Having recently read a book talking about ancient underworlds in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs
and Chinese Emperors, I wondered if there were any such mysterious places under the Great Wall as well. I
therefore went to the Bat Tat Ling Great Wall last month, and climbed down from it by means of a rope ladder
to explore.
I stepped down onto the steep hill. Before I knew it, my feet lost their grip on the slippery grass, and I slid
about three metres down onto a piece of rock. I got up and stepped onto the rock to get a grip. Just then, the
ground gave way, and all the earth around me crumbled down. “Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!” I screamed as I fell down and
down………..
After a while, I landed with a thump on something soft. A bright light shone on me, but it was not sunlight.
“
Who are you?” a voice bellowed. “My name is Raphael. I come in peace!” I frantically replied. “Okay!” a
small man, about seventy centimetres tall, approached me holding an LED lamp. “Follow me to our leader.” He
led me through a series of twists and turns until we arrived at a wide road. There were colourful LED lamps
hanging from the high ceiling, and shops on both sides of the road. Numerous small men and women hurried in
and out of the shops. When they noticed me, they froze for a moment, before a wave from my guide signalled
them to go back to work. The guide led me to a small temple and told me to look into the red window on the
second floor.
Another small man, much older than my guide, soon looked from the window at me.
“
Welcome to the Underworld of the Great Wall!” he said. “Who are you?”
I replied, “My name is Raphael Man. I come from Hong Kong where I work as an engineer majoring in
transport systems.” “Who are you?” I asked
The little man chuckled before saying, “I am the leader of this Underworld. We are people of the Ming
dynasty, or at least our ancestors were. They were sent to build the magnificent Great Wall above.”
He whispered at me, “You may not believe what I am about to tell you, but listen: One day, a very bright
light shone on those men. They got squashed and squashed for a short while, and when they opened their eyes,
they were as short as us! They dug out streets and roads with tools, and after years of expansion the Underworld
is now home to ninety thousand people, scattered around different sections of the Wall. This temple is the
Capital of the Underworld.” He finished with a smile.
He also added that there were two entrances to the Underworld. The first one, where I had fallen in, was
originally dug to catch large animals. The other entrance was built at the shore of the Bohai Sea, where they
grabbed fish and other seafood.
The level of technology was very advanced in the Underworld. For example, they used internet-enabled
monitors to watch Underworld television programmes. All monitors in the Underworld were connected by Wi-
Fi. The electricity needed for them was generated by a geothermal power plant.
The leader excused himself so that he could make a speech to the public about me. I thus left the temple for
a stroll. I discovered that the air in the Underworld was very clean, as were the streets. It was a great contrast
with the world above.
When the leader finished his speech, he asked me to stay with them for a while to help them construct a new
railway system run by electricity, to replace their old diesel-run system. I stayed at a luxurious hotel, in the only
room big enough for me: the presidential suite. I felt like the BFG, as I squeezed my way through the narrow
corridors of the hotel. I lived comfortably in this hotel room, with a faithful butler at my service.
I held a daily meeting with the leader, and gradually passed down the technology on railways that I knew
about. The leader was very impressed, and began inviting me to talk about other aspects of the modern world.
In addition to my daily meetings, I took a tour around the capital of the Underworld, Zhong Changxing. The
lives of the people were using high technology also. They used small TVs and electronic games at home, just
like people nowadays. The people of the Underworld also used high levels of technology to communicate
verbally, which involved stone tubes and other machinery. The process was environmentally-friendly and very
convenient. I was impressed.
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Shortlisted