Page 5 - Book V Unit 4

Using Language

SEEING THE TRUE NORTH VIA RAIL:

TORONTO AND MONTREAL

After Li Daiyu and her cousin arrived in Toronto, the largest and wealthiest city in Canada, they only
had a few hours to kill before they had to proceed to the next leg of their trip to Montreal, so they
went on a tour of the city. They went up the CN Tower and looked across the shores of Lake Ontario.
Standing in the distance, they were astonished to see misty clouds rising from the great Niagara
Falls, which is on the south side of the lake. Water from the lakes flows into the Niagara River and
over the falls on its way to the sea.
The girls saw hundreds of skyscrapers of glass and steel, and old-fashioned cars rolling by. As they
walked north from the harbour area, Li Daiyu said, “Lin Fei, one of my mother’s old schoolmates, lives
here. I should phone her and see if she’s available for dinner.”

They met Lin Fei around dusk over dinner at a restaurant in downtown Chinatown. The cousins
chatted with Lin Fei, who had moved to Canada many years earlier.
“This is the largest Chinatown in Toronto. We have a few more in the
Greater Toronto Area, so you can guess that there are a lot of Chinese
people in Canada! Chinese people have been coming here for more than
a hundred years. Therefore, we can get all kinds of great food here from all
over China,” Lin Fei told them.

The train left late that night and arrived in Montreal early the next morning.
At the station, in contrast to Toronto, they heard people talking in French.
They were surprised to see that all the signs and advertisements were in
French and many people spoke English with an accent.
“We don’t leave until this evening,” said Liu Qian. “Let’s go downtown. Old
Montreal is close to the water.”

They spent the afternoon in lovely shops and visiting artists in their
workplaces along St Paul Street. As they sat in a restaurant alongside the
broad St Lawrence River, a young man sat down with them.
“Hello, my name is Jean-Philippe. I’m a photographer,” he said, “and I was wondering where you
are from.”

The girls told him they were from China and were on a train trip across Canada. When they told him
they had only one day in Montreal, he said, “That’s too bad. You owe it to yourselves to stay longer.
Overall, Montreal is a city with wonderful sights and sounds. Most of us speak both English and
French, and the city has unique Quebec culture and traditions. There are fantastic restaurants and
clubs around, too. Here, we love good coffee, toast, and cheese. And good music, of course!”

44 UNIT 4 JOURNEY ACROSS A VAST LAND