A Powerful Idea
Jimmy Xu, Group 4: Fiction, Zhuhai International School
t was the year 2120. Cities were forests of modern age buildings, and maglev cars and hover boards were
the norm. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 10 times what it was in 2010, turning the rain to
acid. Up north, stood a long wall, a Great Wall; the rain had increased the speed of its erosion by 200%.
Each month another section of the wall collapsed, causing collateral damage to nearby settlements.
The Chinese Congress called a meeting to debate the fate of the Great Wall. Historians were arguing
to rebuild the wall to its former glory for two reasons: first, they said, it is one of humanity’s biggest
achievements in the medieval ages; second, it also contains the culture and history of China. Yet the
politicians argued that it’s just using up last bits of land left without any profit or positive changes. The
scientists were unable to attend. They were too busy trying to solve the problem of power shortage, which in
fact was a global problem. Coal and gas were nearly gone; only a few years of use were left. Solar power was
inefficient, nuclear power was too dangerous and thus the anti-matter reactor was invented. One reactor can
power a country, but the size of it is humongous.
Congress’s meeting soon erupted in to utter chaos. The historians and politicians turned into a brawling
mess. Brief cases were flung across the room. Meanwhile the president was sitting in his seat, becoming more
and more frustrated at the scene in front of him. When one briefcase sailed in a perfect arc towards him, he
yelled, “Silence!” Everyone stopped mid-fight and turned to him. “I have made my decision,” he declared, “The
wall will be reconstructed.”
“
But the Wall is a waste of resources!” the politicians yelled in unison.
“
Then turn the Wall into a resource.” The historians and politicians untangled themselves and returned to
their seats. Then the president continued with his speech: “As we all know, China is in desperate need for
energy to support its westward expansion. Why don’t we find a way to make use of the Wall?” The room
became silent.
A mere two days after he decided the fate of the Great Wall, the president issued the challenge to every
architect in the world: create a blueprint to envelop a power station in the resurrected Great Wall. After three
months of seeing only unsatisfying blueprints, he decided to call JianQiang, a famous Chinese architect, whose
last project combined a new power generation hub with a new underwater research laboratory. JianQiang was
in for a shock when the president called him and said,“I am sure that you have heard about the challenge I have
issued. So far every proposed blueprint is unsatisfactory. I was hoping that you could create a blueprint for the
challenge.” JianQiang almost dropped his earpiece in either shock or happiness -- it could have been both.
“
Hello? Hello? Do you want this job or not?” the president urged through the phone. That was enough to
knock JianQiang out of his stupor. Not wanting to lose such job offer, he replied as fast as he could, “Yes, yes. I
would love to take this job.”
After the receiving the task, JianQiang began to think about how to combine the two projects. He created
over 30 different ideas but none satisfied him, until one day he saw his daughter playing with a Matryoshkadoll.
That was when the final idea hit him: “Why don't I include the power station in the Great Wall, just like the
dolls? It would be able to restore the history of the Great Wall and power the whole country. It also would be
able to bring in huge amounts of tourism. That's the profit which politicians desperately want!” he muttered to
himself while banging his head on a nearby wall.
So, with some help from a few archeologists, his team estimated that it would take them at least a year to
make the blueprint. With only one option, they gathered architects and scientists from all over the globe to help.
They divided into 15 groups. They then split the Great Wall into 5 different sections. Each of the sections had
three groups. Each group would work for eight hours on a section before going to rest, and another group would
take over and continue where the last group left off. Even then it took them three months to finalize the
blueprints. At the end of the three months, their faces was ashen, all of them ready to collapse any moment.
After two more months of contracting they finally found a construction company that could meet their
demands on quality, speed, and expenses. After the company briefed its workers to take on such enormous
project, the rebuilding of the Great Wall began. JianQiang jumped with joy in his office.
Halfway through the project, everything was going smoothly until one night in the desert, out of the
darkness came a deep, loud constant rumble. As the seconds passed, the rumbling got louder. Soon the sounds
of soft wailing became apparent. On the horizon, a line of pure black became visible, increasing in size every
second. It was the fear of all who travel the desert: the mighty sand storm, a wall of pure destruction.
Unfortunately, the construction robots were still building the Great Wall, and not one was able to reach shelter
I