Beijing is either locked down or preparing for it. The new norm is stockpiling food at home. Carrying out the daily routine of only working, eating and sleeping has become boring due to the complex new technologies and rules we have to navigate.
Our lives here are dominated by the health code. I don't have to use my health code to get into the subway station because of the results of my Covid test. I have to show my results to the guard when I get to the gate. The young man in uniform gave me a nod as he hid his face under the mask. There are a lot of cars running through the streets.
China has a zero- Covid policy.
When cases increase, the government shuts down the city, including malls and entertainment, and suggests people work from home or commute from home to work. Delivery people work from dawn to midnight when restaurants are not open. At home or in the office, I can still easily enjoy a bowl of warm kimchi beef udon for lunch in just 40 minutes by ordering on a shopping app that provides consumer products and retail services.
When I walked towards the dry cleaning store one morning in November, it was closed along with most of the shops in my neighborhood. Standing far apart from each other, men, women, and elderly people lined up at the few grocery stores that were open to buy food. After five days of thousands of cases, officials decided to put on a lock down. 12 hours was given to us.
I was lucky enough to attend an event just before a wave of strict measures took effect. The bar staff seemed to be busy with other work and no one checked to see if I had scanned my health code.
The room was filled with laughter and applause from both Chinese and foreign people. It was a chance to not think about it. No one seemed to be bothered by the constant changes to Covid policies. Beijing's literary scene was flourishing.
Some patrons at other venues have developed strategies to avoid being tracked by authorities in the event that they are stricken with a disease. A group of people take a picture of a negative test result and flash it to the security guarding venue doors. Most guards only look at the codes. We had nowhere to go again until the strategy worked.
I call my father from time to time. It's a way for me to deal with the lack of human connection during zero- Covid. I would love to visit him more often, but travel can be dangerous. I called. When he was a child, China was not ravaged by a disease, but by poverty and hunger. I was asked if I had ever felt like I didn't have enough. I don't laugh and say no. The conversation makes me feel good. I have learned to notice the little joy during these times. Being able to talk about the past is a blessing.
My evenings are used for mandatory testing. When the night comes, I go to the nucleic acid testing booth to get my green health code. It seems pointless to enter public places when there are so few open. Many of us still take the test every day. I know that restrictions will be in place for a long time. We survived poverty and hunger and will have a better life tomorrow.
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