The Nokia 1110 can barely do more than send texts (it doesn't even have a flashlight). But in 2009, it was my only lifeline to the people of northern China, where I taught English in the small rural town of Taigu. Over a decade later—with US-China relations at a historic low—the Nokia 1110, for all its technological deficiencies, represents something aspirational: the renewed promise of cross-cultural friendship.
Read more at The China Project.