Shangrila (世外桃源)

This photo was taken by Ho Keung and Yin Ping at sunrise behind their hotel near Queenstown in New Zealand on September 10^th .

It reminds me of a film called “Shangrila”. The view I saw in the film was like the one here. Climbing over the mountain, one could find a quiet, peaceful and beautiful village. The people there lived on their own. They grew crops and made things by themselves. They did not worry nor they had to rush here and there to complete their jobs. There were no competition, no jealousy, no conflicts and wars.

Life is similar to me. I used to live in Kowloon Tong and had been working some thirty years of so on Hong Kong Island right over this busy side of the Lion Rock and after the year 2001, I moved to Shatin, on the other side of the Lion Rock. I began to count down the working days at school and think of a retired life. It came to the time in the year 2005 that I thought of living a better life, free from heavy work.

Now, I do not have to worry about my children because they have grown up and found jobs they love. I do not have to break the walls of exercise books each day. I do not have to compete with time to finish the syllabus fixed. I do not have to type questions and draw diagrams for test and exam papers. They often occupy much of my time on the computer since I am quite ignorant in using it. It is easy to solve daily life problems such as meals here in Shatin. There are quite a number of restaurants and fast food shops near by. There are supermarkets close to us, so buying and carrying things home are not problems. Shatin can be my Shangrila!