We’re now a few weeks after Spring Festival has ended and, even though the official holiday has ended, things are moving slowly. Beijing is still really quiet these days since many of the migrant workers who would’ve returned from their hometowns have been prevented by travel bans.
Further, the 14-day self quarantine means that, even if people have returned, you won’t see to many people out and about. What you would see, however, is a lot of delivery drivers.
Those guys are usually from other cities and they’re not allowed into compounds any more. Instead, if you’re getting something delivered you need to go get it from the main gate of your compound. It’s actually starting to look exactly like the method used at the university I taught at a few years ago:
Shops remain shuttered and, as the news suggests (mostly from outside of China), these places don’t have many months of cash reserves available to endure this sort of shut down. People who can work from home are still able to earn an income, so long as they work for a company that is producing an income. Those whose companies are starting to feel the squeeze, this is where problems may arise. This is made most apparent by the stoppage of large trade shows in and around the region.
And, as word on the street has it, the universities will probably not reopen until May and, if that’s the case, that means we won’t be starting any sooner. So, as March has already been cancelled, it might be that April is also a slow month. (I’m curious to know how far the next semester will impinge upon the summer months when it gets obscenely hot and humid in much of China.)
The lockdowns have not only continued, but have increased. In a recent post I described how we had to sign up for a card that shows that we live on the compound. Now, not only do we need the card, but no one who doesn’t live there isn’t allowed on the grounds and, even worse, they’ve started locking the gates at night.
And if that wasn’t enough, there are some places that have had extra gates installed (because their original gates were old and broken).
I don’t feel like I’m going stir crazy as I am still keeping myself busy. However, when I ventured out to the foreigner-friendly pubs this weekend, I was rejected by the first one because of a new policy in place: groups are restricted to two (2!) people only and the bar would also cap attendance at 50% of their total capacity. Both of which meant that if you knew someone on the inside you could probably weasel your way in, and that the groups that were in the bar were literally spread out over four or five tables. Lots of empty space in between.
So I went to another pub across the river and watched as one of the staff picked his nose while handing out menus. I wanted to tell him not to do that but, let’s face it, unless it was an official notice, he probably wouldn’t listen. And even then, would he?
I’m not put off by not having work for another two months as I have been able to save a bit of money along the way. So, in that sense, things are fine for now. It also means it will be busy once we get going again, but that brings with it its own set of problems (such as overwork!)
By the look at social media outside of the country and by the comments I read from others, it looks as though the situation is either getting out of hand around the world or that the numbers are such falsities that the virus is somehow more prevalent than once thought. The number of confirmed cases outside of China has especially been concerning, and have jumped considerably in the last week. Here’s the latest:
Those numbers do look scary and there has been no shortage of yelling and screaming at the Chinese government and all its doing. What people often aren’t saying, however, is that the number of people recovering from the virus is on the rise. Not only are they recovering, but the number of confirmed cases is beginning to plateau. Both of these are good things to see.
Are people upset? Well, given that everyone is quarantined at home it’s hard to tell unless you follow WeChat Moments or Weibo. From what I gather so far, Weibo is full of diatribes and discontent as much as any other social media platform, it’s just all in Chinese.
And with that, we continue to try to live and survive.
Remember to wash your hands!