The city called Shenyang

It has been seven years since I left her, my hometown. Those dusty trees, empty factories have already been blurred by the mist of time, leaving only some fragments I can never grasp or forget.

 Shenyang, once the capital city of the Qing Dynasty, has witnessed the whole rise and fall of a huge empire. Those faded prosperity legacies now only left the city with a 'mini' summer palace and some broken walls, which may only be found on tourism advertisements. But her true stories are hidden in every piece of broken bricks, every drop of blood stain and every ballad people sing. Today, Shenyang does not seem to have any link with the word 'royal', but you will know this city after some splendid time breathing her air and talking to her people. People here can never be described as 'patronizing', indeed they are hospitable and very warm-hearted, but history knows that they are also tough and respectable.

In 1931, Shenyang was invaded by Japanese army, known as the Mukden Incident. In the following 14 years, the only thing she could do was watching her people being tortured, humiliated, and even killed. But Shenyang people were never conquered. They buried their friends' bodies, wept each other's tear, and then kept seeking for a way to bring this nation out.

Their sweat and blood paid off. On August 15, 1945, Japan signed the surrender document. Even such great news like this could not make the people in this city rest. Shenyang soon burdened the responsibility of the nation's heavy industry. She didn't let anyone down. Before long, she brought the country with the first beltline, the first domestically manufactured tank, then the first plane.

After the fall of heavy manufacture, the city is now no more than an ordinary peaceful capital city of a north-east province, but watching her, touching her, feeling her makes me shed tears. Nobody here would not want to live an easy and happy life, but their era never let them to. So they sought hard, strived hard, struggled hard so that their children and grandchildren would not have to suffer as they once did.

 I owe here too much.