I looked like everyone else. But I can't be Chinese

The Adelaide Festival Centre's new OzAsia festival celebrates Australian artists with Asian heritage and cultural collaborations with our nearest neighbours.

Photographer and storyteller WILLIAM YANG writes about his new show, China, based on his travels there, and his discovery that he is a stranger in his own motherland.

The 2000-year-old Great Wall was not disappointing. It's about half a day's drive from Beijing and stretches snakelike across desolate hills, seemingly forever. It's the mythology of the Great Wall that prevails; you are standing on one of the great wonders of the world.

I vaguely remembered reading that this section had been rebuilt. I asked, "Was it rebuilt in 1957?" I was confusing the date of rebuilding with the date when the section was opened to the public. "No," said my guide, "It was rebuilt 500 years ago in the Ming Dynasty." Yes, in China you have a different concept of time.

Adelaidenow, Australia