A student from a British university, Yang Hao, left his home in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, in November 2023. He traveled around China till April, It was a 5-month exploration and Yang visited 24 provinces and regions.

He goes for exploration without a cell phone and computer, using non-internet connection cameras. It was his part of the research which focuses on the “effects of digitization on modern life, and his phone-free adventure was a bold exploration”.

What did he Experience?

“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? Based on doubts about, and reflections on, digitalization, I aimed to conduct an experiment in China to undertake an exodus without relying on the internet” Yang told the South China Morning Post.

What problem did he face?

He said problems caused by the absence of mobile phones were common during his visit. For example, he couldn’t book a hotel ahead of time or consult a map app instantly, nor could he book a taxi using ride-hailing.

Yang discovered that most stores had no provision for swiping his bank cards. When he did not have enough cash to pay, he had to travel great distances to find an ATM and withdraw the money.

He said that the phone acts as a distraction, so he reads or writes books without the phone. He intends to create a book of articles written about the trip and a documentary based on the films he shot on the road.