For many people, a day without a mobile phone is difficult to imagine.
So the experience of a young man who travelled across China for 134 days without access to technology has amazed the mainland public, Ziniu News reported.
Born in the 1990s, Yang Hao, who is studying for a PhD degree at a British university, left his hometown in Taiyuan, capital city of central Shanxi province in November last year and returned in April. He had travelled to 24 provinces and regions.
Yang had no mobile phone or computer during his journey, taking only two cameras that could not connect to the internet.
Yang studies contemporary art at the British university and one of his research topics is the impact of digitalisation on people's lives.
"I feel that the mobile phone is like a digital organ for us. We cannot do many things without one. So I'd wanted to explore what happens if we have no internet access at all. What's the experience like, say, for a period of several months?" Yang said.
He said China is the place with the fastest growing development of digitalisation and technology in the world.
"Based on doubts about, and reflections on, digitalisation, I aimed to conduct an experiment in China to undertake an exodus without relying on the internet," said Yang.
He said inconveniences resulting from the absence of a mobile phone were common on his trip.
For example, he could not book a hotel in advance or quickly check a map app, nor could he order a taxi on ride hailing.
Yang found most shops did not have a machine for him to swipe his bank cards. On some occasions when he did not have enough cash to pay, he had to walk long distances to find ATMs to withdraw money.
He said to solve these problems, he needed to communicate more with strangers he met on the road.
"Almost everybody who heard I was not using a mobile was shocked," said Yang.
"Some asked if I was doing anything bad, some wondered if I was doing a special job, while others thought it was interesting to live with no mobile."
He said having a mobile phone is often a distraction, so on his journey without one he could concentrate on reading books or writing.
"I am like an ancient man who has time-travelled to the modern day. All those troubles and joys made me excited. It was definitely a great life experience," Yang said.
He plans to publish a book of the articles he wrote about the trip and make a documentary based on the films he shot while on the road.
Yang's experience caused a buzz on mainland social media.
Editor: CH
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