Walking into the Dongzhou Re-education Through Labor Camp alone felt completely different from visiting with friends during the day. After the heavy, old iron gate closed at the entrance, the world suddenly fell silent, save for the echoing footsteps in the empty corridors. Sunlight streamed in through the cracked skylights, illuminating the dust clearly, but failing to light the dark corners of the cells. Each cell door was half-open, as if someone had just left, causing one to unconsciously slow their pace. Reaching the radiating central hall, all seven corridors were empty, devoid of anyone, save for the soft whistling of the wind blowing through the broken walls—a moment that truly sent chills down your spine.
It wasn't the kind of horror found in ghost movies, but a silence that evoked the feeling that "many people were once imprisoned here, and now only echoes remain." Walking alone, you could hear your own breathing more clearly, pay closer attention to the echoes of your footsteps, and feel the weight of history that had settled over this prison. Emerging, however, felt a sense of relief, a feeling of liberation—like escaping from another era back to the present.
