Countryhumans Oneshots! [Historical Fiction・No NSFW]

The Paris of the East [ft. China & France]

WARNING

This passage contains some swearing. It also hints at some politics between Hong Kong and China. Just do note I'm not writing about my perspective on the politics, but the countries. And I also would like to add that I'm not trying to villainize the people of these countries nor glorify/promote anything at all. Anyways, if you are not comfortable with this, please skip over this story. This is your last warning.

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Beginning Authour's Note:

Sooo, I'd like to say some things first #1, kinda proud of the art ngl :D #2 art isn't really related to the story, while I was drawing it kind've of diverged from the plot and now it looks cool but with no significance whatsoever (btw China is in front and France is in the back) #3 I have a wattpad version of the art and an insta version so lemme just casually plug my insta in - there we go :)
https://www.instagram.com/xinfenix/

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▶ Macau's POV

Empty, lifeless, and somewhat boring this luxurious city lies. It was just waiting for the few troves of residents to wake at the crack of dawn and stir up some much needed action. Even with the new installation of picturesque buildings and statues, it never seemed to aid much in providing life to this town. As I think about it more, I don't believe this place has ever had any activity in its whole lifetime for the record. That's what makes it eerie and a great example of something that seems like it should've been abandoned a long time ago. Not to mention it is an absolute ghost town because of how cut off transportation is to cities. I mean for Hell's sake, why put this in Tianducheng? Shanghai is only two hours away yet this feels like it's a whole days away in some random countryside secluded from the rest of civilization. Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to put attractions here?

Oh, yes, right. China was who did it. In 2007, he decided it was the most ingenious idea to reconstruct monuments from around the world, like the majestic Arc de Triomphe or the famous Eiffel Tower, smack dab in one of the most random cities anyone has ever heard of. I have no vendetta against China, unlike Hong Kong, but it was almost as if he was drunk planning the development of this. All in all, I can say without a doubt this was a project doomed from the very beginning if his intention was to bring denizens here.

I sighed and glanced beside me at Hong Kong. As he gazed up towards the exact replica of Paris's Eiffel Tower, I knew he was thinking the same thing. Swiftly whirling towards the cityhuman, he furled his eyebrows to convey the most confused and concerned look I've seen him make in a while.

"Tianducheng, might you have any idea on why exactly China thought this was a good idea to put um- whatever this is, here? It just seems like a waste of money, or more likely, a weird way to boast his wealth." Hong Kong bitterly blurted out, clearly in pain to having to be out here.

Tianducheng gave him an equally puzzled look. Interesting, considering that this is literally his city. This was what he personified. And to think he doesn't know why this was done probably tells a whole lot about this situation.

"China never gave me the details. He only told me this project was supposed to help bring residents in and that it's supposed to accommodate at least 10,000 people. I can assume it's also meant as a tourist attraction. But as you all can see, it flunked... flunked very hard." Tianducheng replied as he motioned at the humanless expanse surrounding us.

Although this wouldn't be the ideal location where I would put an expensive luxury real estate development, I liked where he was going with the whole 'Paris in China' idea. As a region occupied by western countries in the past, I can appreciate China's effort in copying France's neoclassical architecture. In contrast to everything else, the layout and design of everything really did look like Paris... just minus the people.