We are travelling through China like we’re in a computer game in which the characters we meet have the same reactions  all the time. 

They point their fingers at us and laugh, they shout “Halou”, they ask us what country are we from, they take a selfie with us and then they leave.

We are like some exhibits parading in front of them, instead of them travelling in groups and taking photos of everything they see.

People are greeting us extremely friendly, but it’s very hard to go beyond a certain communication threshold. The funny thing is that language is not the obstacle: we are semi-fluently speaking through a Chinese translation app.

But they’re not reacting to certain signals, they simply ignore what they’re not in the mood for, turn their backs at us and leave.

Some reactions are missing, that for us are part of what makes us human.

Of course that instead of those there are a lot of fascinating codes which we can’t read into. But this doesn’t stop the feeling of dehumanization. With every person we meet, we feel lonelier.

Last night, I dreamt that I’m home and that everyone I know is acting like the people I met here. It got me scared more than any nightmare I ever had.