Beijing, China.

A city equivalent to Seoul, the capital of Korea.

"Maybe it’s because it’s the capital, but walking around without a mask is going to be tough."

The air pollution felt almost visible.

I pulled out the mask I’d prepared beforehand and put it on, scanning my surroundings.

The other students were slowly getting off the bus, many of them also wearing masks like me.

It was clear that paying attention to health was the smart thing to do here.

“Hello!”

“Oh, Teacher Xiao!”

As we were all getting off the bus and curiously looking around, a young woman …