Hong Kong - As I stepped into the madness that is Hong Kong for the first time, I had one goal… to make it across China using only my smartphone as a guide – a challenge I was undertaking for BBC World News’ The Travel Show.
That would be a difficult feat in any country but, with the infamous “Great Firewall of China” blocking access to practically every social media site and app I knew, and my inability to speak any form of Chinese, this was going to be particularly hard.
The reason I wanted to do this was simple. We live in a world where smartphones tend to lead to a “head down, ignore the rest of the world” mindset. People spend so much time on their phones; they struggle to notice what’s going on around them. But that doesn’t have to be the case – we’re all just using our phones inefficiently. So, it was time to make social media truly social, in one of the most difficult yet fascinating countries to do so – China.
As I started in Hong Kong, where the Great Firewall of China doesn’t restrict internet access and most people can speak English, it was a gentle beginning. On arrival, I posted “I am in Hong Kong, come meet me!” on Twitter and Facebook, tagging people to get their attention. I didn’t expect much of a response, but it worked amazingly! I felt like a local celebrity. I had replies from a huge amount of people offering to take me for dinner, show me their city and just say hi! I met a group of women from Sassy Hong Kong, a lifestyle magazine in Wan Chai. They showed me their favourite places in Hong Kong.
I was brought back down to earth when I met a man called Jack Qiu. He explained the gravity of the Great Firewall of China and how different my experience would be in the mainland.
“It’s the worst creation in the history of the world,” he told me. But, like any good traveller, the naysaying only inspired me. So I continued on my mission for The Travel Show.
Landing at Changsha airport, mainland China, I switched my phone on to discover Jack was right. Sites weren’t necessarily banned, they just didn’t load. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram came up on my phone, but wouldn’t refresh.
This doesn’t sound too dramatic, but it was more disconcerting than I’d imagined. You don’t realise how much you depend on your social media accounts for entertainment and comfort, and once they’re gone you feel a bit lost. I caught a night train from Changsha to Zhiangjiajie and during the ride, I used the local sim I had acquired to create a Chinese-alter ego, making accounts on WeChat, Weibo and QQ.
As I continued on my trip for The Travel Show, I used all of the Chinese apps in varying degrees. In Zhiangjiajie national park (the inspiration for the set of Avatar) I used WeChat to video chat and locate an English-speaking tour guide. In Phoenix Ancient Town, an ancient city in Hunan province, I used translation apps to hold my first Chinese conversations and an app, WayGo, to instantly translate a menu to order dinner.
Through Weibo I had my Chinese 15 minutes of fame when I sent out a message asking people to show me around Chengdu and help me eat famous Sichuan cuisine. Within hours about 100 people had been in touch and my post continued being shared for days. I met Ann, an English student and we went for Chuan Chuan, a type of nibbling food on skewers.
I ended the trip at an expat party in downtown Chengdu I had found using a VPN. After all of this, I learned two things. As technology improves, and social media becomes more integrated into our lives, it enables us to meet people and discover the planet around us. More importantly, it reminded me people are friendlier than you may think. Throughout the trip, people were willing to meet and lead me to amazing experiences, which you can see on The Travel Show on BBC World News this weekend.
l The Travel Show – China Special with Benjamin Zand will be broadcast this weekend on BBC World News (DStv channel 400).
The Independent