Cameras. Everywhere.

In China again. First time since 2014.

My greatest fear is a picture of my face being reverse-traced with the correct tools and then being tied with my first and last name as well as previous social media I have seen.

Yesterday I was at an event where people were swarming to get a photo with me. I was the only white guy at the event. And I do mean swarming. They were over-sold a story about me living in America for the past decade. I've been mostly in Asia for the last decade. I feel like a paid actor. They were also told I was a C-level executive at the company.

I don't know what I have gotten myself into. Unemployment and over-exposure to a sociopath brought me here.

Hiding...

I don't like going out. My Chinese hosts are very friendly. I've been told to pretend I don't speak mandarin at every turn I take unless I'm alone with one of the bosses. In this regard, I feel like I am a complete fraud.

( I feel scared )

On a more enlightening note, I feel like a lot changed since the last time I came to China. I'm in Chengdu right now. Today I will fly to a different city. The last time I lived in China for a significant amount of time (henan, 2012, one month), people drove everywhere like madmen. Now the biggest problem is simply changing lanes. Air pollution is still a problem. People aren't staring at me like an alien, and, at best, it seems that caucasians in big cities simply have heightened novelty status. When people saw me here, they compared me to justin bieber.