'Digital Detox': PhD Student Travels China for 134 Days Without Phone, Shares Experience

In a world where social media dominates our lives, many people have forgotten how to live without the internet. However, a young PhD student traveled across China for 134 days without using a phone or the internet.

Yang Hao, a PhD student at a British university, left his home in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, in November and travelled across China till April. 

He visited 24 provinces and regions. Yang carried no phone or computer on his travel journey, and only two cameras couldn't connect to the internet. Yang, who studies contemporary art at a British university, focuses on how digitization impacts people’s lives as one of his research themes.

"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, digitalisation, I aimed to conduct an experiment in China to undertake an exodus without relying on the internet" Yang told the South China Morning Post.

He stated that issues caused by the absence of a mobile phone were typical during his journey. For instance, he couldn't book a hotel ahead of time or immediately consult a map app, or could he order a taxi using ride hailing. Yang discovered that most shops did not have a mechanism for him to swipe his bank cards. When he didn't have enough cash to pay, he had to trek considerable distances to find ATMs and withdraw money. 

"Almost everybody who heard I was not using a mobile was shocked. 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," Yang told the South China Morning Post.

He explained that having a mobile phone is often a distraction, so on his journey without one, he could focus 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 decided to write a book based on the articles he wrote during his trip to china and create a documentary using the films he took along the way.