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XFE's Test & Shenanigans Thread

7 MILLION ANTS
七百萬隻螞蟻

A different world

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Kennedy Town, pre-Revolutionary Victoria, 1954


七百萬隻螞蟻 唔容易走埋一齊
7 Million ants, how easy was it for them to come together? [2]

Preface​

This project started out as an attempt to do a big, thicc map in commemoration of my 5th year on AH.com. For various reasons, including recent controversies on the main AH.com forum, I decided that this was the time to publish what I would presumptuously call my magnum opus in the broader AH community.

So what is this?

IMO a good TL, like any other work of fiction, speaks to the concerns of our modern world.

As many of you know, I am from and grew up in the city of Hong Kong. In recent years, and for much of my teenage life, the city has been engulfed in a series of protests, civil unrest and fallen under the spotlight of world media. HK has experienced mass disillusionment, first with the prospect of a free and democratic China, and then the prospect of a free and prosperous Hong Kong. Mass disillusionment has produced various cultural and political responses on the "left" and the "right" [1], and I in my teenage years explored both extremes, ultimately rejecting both. Beyond politics, another goal of this TL is to explore the culture and history of my home city. Like many of my peers, I have found myself relatively insulated from local culture, instead being more involved in global, Anglophone internet culture. In a way, this TL is a form of cultural and historical therapy for me, and I would be delighted to have you along for the ride.

This work is an unapologetically Oriental-centric work. Due to a lack of knowledge and a lack of time, I don’t expect to cover Western history outside the broad and essential strokes. That said, feel free to ask me questions about going-ons in the world I have not detailed. I am more than happy to fill in the gaps for this world.

With regards romanization, I will be using the Pinyin romanization of Mainland China for utility's sake. Pinyin is a system I am far more familiar with in comparison with Jyutping and Wade-Giles, both of which would perhaps be more fitting for such a world.

A final note would be regarding this TL's subtitle. I quite dislike the idea of a subjectively "better" world, and would like to present this as what might have been, rather than what ought to be.

Thanks to @Hindustani Person for his invaluable help with the Indian portions of this scenario.

Recommended reading:
-Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India (Shashi Tharoor, 2017)
-The Chinese Gentry: studies of their role in nineteenth-century Chinese society (Chung-li Chang, 1955)
-The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism (Patrick H. Hase, 2008)
-History of Hong Kong 1842-1984 (David Faure, 1995)
-The Chaos of Empire: the British Raj and the Conquest of India (Jon Wilson, 2016)
-Asia for the Asians: China in the Eyes of Five Meiji Japanese (Paula S. Harrell, 2012)
-The Great Fire of Hong Kong (Adam Nebbs, 2010)

[1]: Hong Kong's political spectrum works somewhat differently from the West's. The "left" is identified as the Establsihment/pro-CCP groups, including free-market capitalists such as the Liberal Party; whereas the "right" is identified as the Pan-Democratic parties, including the Social Democratic LSD Party.
[2]: A song written by Edison Chen, noted Hong Kong-Canadian singer, actor, womanizer and professional scumbag. Good song though.

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Part I
Colonial Liangguang (1852-1913)

"This is the Place Where the British Flag is to be hoisted"​
 
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You may read the TL, which is hosted on SV.com and AH.com in the links in my signature.
 
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