Without Gadgets, Student Travels Across China for 134 Days
YANG HAO – A student from China born in the 1990s embarked on a unique adventure to explore life without gadgets.
As a contemporary art student in the UK, Yang decided to spend 134 days traveling across China without a smartphone or laptop, relying only on two old digital cameras that were not connected to the internet. His goal was to understand the impact of excessive digitalization on daily life.
Yang’s journey, which began in November 2023, was motivated by his belief that mobile phones have become essential digital organs, making many tasks difficult without them. He wanted to see what life would be like without these digital tools and aimed to experience this for several months.
Throughout his travels, Yang encountered numerous challenges. Without a smartphone, he couldn’t book hotels in advance or use ride-hailing apps, leading him to buy printed maps and find ATM machines for cash withdrawals. These difficulties highlighted how dependent people have become on digital technology.
Despite these inconveniences, Yang found significant benefits. He was relieved from constant notifications and distractions from social media, which allowed him to focus on more meaningful activities. He read books he had long neglected, wrote with pen and paper, and spent time reflecting on his future goals.
According to PEP.ph, Yang completed his journey in April 2024, having traveled through 24 provinces and regions in China. He found the experience enriching and brought back new perspectives on life. He described himself as an “ancient man” who had time-traveled to the modern day, finding excitement in both the troubles and joys of his gadget-free life.
Yang’s experiment received admiration on social media, with many netizens calling his achievement “awesome.” Some found it difficult to imagine life without their smartphones, while others recognized that cash could be more essential than gadgets. Yang plans to publish a book and create a documentary about his experience, aiming to highlight the real-world connections he made during his journey.
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