The village of the abandoned children

It was still quite early when the hotel alarm woke me up. I didn't have much time either after a busy day yesterday, so I quickly got ready and then went straight to the hotel lobby for breakfast.

"Who's that face staring at me so wearily in the bathroom mirror?" I asked myself as I shaved. I was 38 and somehow looked 56 today. Not easy, this job as a reporter for a well-known German television station, especially when you had to work in a country with so many controversies and contradictions like this.

We had a difficult shoot yesterday. In the huge corporation - and that was really the case - after endless back and forth we finally got permission to shoot. And when we were there, we didn't get to see anything. They denied us what we actually wanted to report on.

But for a country like China, I wasn't surprised. Not anymore, after everything we've already experienced here.

Outwardly the great pride, the great economic power. Opening to the West, with new possibilities of all financial transactions. But what about the country itself? What was behind the scenes in China? This was the subject of our report, which we had been shooting for several weeks.

However, we haven't really captured a lot of material yet.

"Lukas", my cameraman with his camera and the interpreter immediately greeted me."Slept well?"

"Nah," I said."Just let."

"What's on today?" The cameraman pulled out a pad and wrote something down.

"We have an appointment to meet some kids at a school," I explained."We don't want to make a fuss about it, they're supposed to be very scared."

"Any idea why, or what it's about?"

I shook my head."I just know that we shouldn't come with all the technology and everyone. Just us - cameraman and interpreter, and me. I don't know if they really let us shoot. Not after what we experienced yesterday.”

"Well, I like this country less and less," agreed the interpreter."Internet blocking, control and espionage everywhere, corporations that deny insight..."

"Who are you telling that to?" I said.

"And what are we shooting today?" asked the cameraman."I haven't received a script yet."

I looked at him in surprise."We don't have a script here," I said."It's about a family. Four children, to be precise. The oldest is supposed to be called Hay-Jing, and today she wants to show us how she lives with her siblings in a remote village.”

"Well, let's go then," said the interpreter when I had finished my breakfast.

The school looked run down from afar. After an hour's drive, we parked our car in front of the building and walked towards the front door. Several children were playing outside or just occupied with each other. Hardly any of them even noticed that we were coming.

Shortly thereafter, a teacher approached us.

"Hello," I said politely, which my interpreter then translated into Chinese for me."I'm looking for Hay-Jing. We are from German television. I think we spoke on the phone.”

"Yes," said the teacher."Yes I remember."

"Where is she?" I wanted to know.

"She'll be right out," said the teacher.