My parents moved back to Ningbuo a few months ago, partly for their careers and partly to take care of grandpa. I visited them in June and to enrich myself of the Chinese culture, I took a course in history aimed for Chinese children raised in the west. My end of term assignment was to write a report on the Forgotten Revolution.

The Forgotten Revolution wasn't in any text books but it certainly turned up in conversations. In this city at least. Especially as the date August 1st drew closer. My lack of formal research meant that I had to turn my attention to my parents. On the evening of July 31st, I ask them. But they were having guests over. Important people in the city if they want to advance. So I went to see my grandfather whose apartment was down the street.

My grandfather took me for a walk along the shoreline. Most of the modern shoreline was covered with a modern port, but the basic landscape must have remained quite similar.

He told me that the Forgotten Revolution happened in the latter years of Qing Dynasty. It was a time when foreigners had taken over major ports and the Qing government did not care what was happening to the locals.

In Ningbuo, local fishermen were left without recourse, and many grouped together in an attempt to revolt. It started out as random acts of sabatoge, a convenient hole on the bottom of some merchant's ship, or a fire cracker in their gun powder room. Despite the foreigners' guards, the resistance continued. It was rumored that local fisherman can disappear as they enter the water and so they can never be caught. Later it was discovered a secret tunnel was dug to the bottom of the docks, and members of the resistance escaped that way.

Qing government, at the express request of the Foreigners, sent their most fierce general. This general brought with him arsenal used by the Foreigners and were very much feared. The general had established the base for some 3 months, when the resistance decided it was time to start a formal revolt and wipe away all the tyranny together.

The resistance did not succeed. A merchant who was secretly selling supplies to the foreigners and the army sent his wife to get information on the date of the major uprising. The wife had warned the general, so the army was prepared and totally wiped out the resistance instead. Thereby the Forgotten Revolution.

It wasn't entirely forgotten though, a small fisherman boat like the ones popular in those days was built and anchored at the old port to commemorate the men who died for a good cause.

At this point of the tale, my grandfather looked very sad. He said that he is some descendent of one of the minor leaders and it looked as though he was picturing the shore as it was back then, or maybe back in his youth.

I saw a small flame flicker near the commemorative fishing boat. I told Grandpa to go home and I headed to see the celebration. It was quite dark, and I really wanted to cut across the new port in order to save a long roundabout trip. I ducked into the dark shaded regions behind the large ships so that the night watchers won't catch me. I ran quickly, but it was still pretty close. One time I had to hide behind a boarding plank. I must have hit the metal edge as I was standing up.

I woke up lying on a pebbled beach. I wondered if I had been washed down the stream, but I truly suspected that I had travelled back in time. How unlikely was it that somewhere down the river would have the same shoreline. The sky was that beautiful shade of dark blue with a thin shining band just before sun rise. I was not cautious enough and I ended up too close to some foreign guards. I am not certain if they saw me, before I jumped into the water hoping to find the fabled tunnel.

As I enter the water and the coldness swallowed me whole. Before I had a chance to wonder, a pair of strong arms grabbed around my body and pulled me right into the dock. I turned around to count 5 men in total. Dressed in wet peasant clothing, they looked tired. They must have been on guard all night, not wanting any volunteer to fall into unnecessary death in the freezing ocean.

They had another woman with them. She had a slightly twisted face, a mole with 2 hairs on the cheek. She did not inspire confidence, in fact she looked like the traitor described by my grandfather.

We went through the tunnel and was brought to the hut used for management of this revolt. All the major leaders attended. The head leader asked the other lady the 5 W's and she said that she needed to be saved, that she wanted to work for them. The leader looked uncertain but said nothing. I was asked the same questions. As I gave my name, he seemed to have blanched. Who was I? Someone mustered that I had the same name as his granddaughter. Suddenly it seemed quite exciting that I might be related to a greater hero than expected.

I told the leader about the evil woman's plans, and the leader told someone to lock the woman up. Figuring I must have saved history, I wondered at my next steps. The leader told me that I must leave with them. Reluctantly I followed them to the army base.

The resistance was composed of men dressed in patched grey and light blue clothing. They carried knifes, axes, pitch forks, etc. as weapons. On the few leaders had swords, and none with guns. I wondered if people travelled through time would die in both times.

We got to the front of the general's base easily enough. The forest was excellent cover. The sun was out by now, and the day could not be nicer.

I had little time to recognize these factors of course. All I saw was this massive metal gate with a digital lock. I wondered if the two time lines were not elapsing into each other. The gate slid silently open, and a soldier dressed in Qing style drove a golf cart out. His golf bag was filled with modern riffles. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps this general was travelling forward in time and borrowing future technology.

The gate slid closed after the golf cart left. The men murmurred about how they can get inside. I took out my cellphone which conveniently had an infrared controller. I never used it, but I figure aiming it at the lock could do no harm. I recalled some security guy once told me that most common combinations on locks was 000 or 123. I tried 000 first. To my greater surprise, it worked. The gate slid open again.

The Resistance's leader looked at me questionably. Clearly he was uncertain as to my possession of a clearly western gadget, though the parts were all made in China. Thankfully, the people had no time to think about it. The leader divided the men into groups each responsible for destroying the armory, the supply room, the stables, the soldiers' dorms, etc.

I was not given a task. They must have forgotten me in their rush. I looked up at the main building and the watch tower that stood in the middle of the building. It occurred to me that most villains would have their office in the top of the watch tower and so I set out to find what I can.

Much to my ignorance, my entrance set of silent alarms. Groups of soldiers carrying guns and rifles piled out of the dorms and they chased the groups in good formation. I had no choice but to continue. As I ran up the stairs, the evil general spotted me. He followed me up the stairs, and in his eyes I saw recognition, if not me as a person then certainly my clothing style.

I couldn't out race him. As I went through the bends of the tower, I saw that he was gaining. Round holds leading to slides were at every level. They seemed to be a convenient way of transporting goods to the storage, the stable, and finally one that led to the ocean. I jumped on the last one and hoped for the best. It was built out of very smooth wood and quite sturdy. It must be the way the general was transporting the objects he brought back from the future.

I fell into the water and before I could really get my bearing, I felt the general's splash. He was reaching out to grab my ankle. I knew I cannot escape alone. Conveniently, a dolphin showed up before me. I grabbed onto its fins and was dashed away. I was so disappointed that I was not able to save the revolution.

At this point, I woke up, went to the bathroom, and went back to sleep. My disappointment caused my dream to be reset to the point where the resistance were being split into teams.

Instead of going into the main building alone, I caught the wrist of my ancestor, and dragged him to follow me. As we ran into the building, the general saw us. My ancestor bravely pulled out his sword and fought the general. I was just thankful that the general had not been carrying his gun.

I raced up to the top, very much out of breath. It was a small room, and a strange magical vibe was all around. The time travel must have been done here, and it seemed quite unstable. Now it eludes me how exactly I destroyed it, but I think it had something to do with my cellphone causing some kind of interference with the room.

I knew that the path through which I had been brought into the future must have been an antithesis of the general's magical time distortion. It would be collapsed completely when this one closed. I ran back to the sliders and jumped on the same one. As I glided down, I saw that the soldiers' weapons were flickering in and out of this time period. Their confusion was the Resistance's advantage. Safe in the knowledge that my ancestor will fix this problem, I looked forward to the ocean.

The same dolphin was there waiting and it took me through the remaining portion of the time tunnel back. Dolphins are so very brilliant. As I was brought to the surface, I was surprised at the sight that greeted me. The sun was still beautifully shining on this August 1st day, but the sight that greeted me was as futuristic as the movies I have seen. The same shoreline was all that remained familiar.