A lot of the world's people are taking international holidays, returning to the office, and going to political rallies. Faced with the Omicron variant, they have decided to live as close to normal as they can in the presence of Covid-19. It is a vastly different story in Covid-zero China.
An estimated 340 million people in at least 46 cities in China are under some form of restriction or lock down.
Hundreds of flights were grounded on Thursday due to a suspected case. In order to travel around the city, all residents have to take a test every 48 hours.
Some residents in the city are protesting nightly by banging pots and pans on their windows. A loudspeaker drives through the streets and tells them that their protest has been inciting by foreign forces.
Beijingers are stocking up on food in case of a Shanghai-style lockdown as dozens of new cases are recorded each day, prompting the closing of schools and suspension of weddings, funerals and banquets.
On the official evening news broadcast, little of this makes the cut. The story is about successes in the battle to regain zero- Covid. China is the last major government still committed to the policy, and they have decided that even the Omicron variant will be controlled through mass testing.
China's officials maintain that their approach is the best for both lives and the economy, and they have no choice but to hold firm. China's medical system is not sufficiently resourced or geographically equitable to avoid catastrophic illness and death, and its booster and vaccination rates are not high enough.
Li Bin, deputy director of the China's National Health Commission, said on Friday that they try to run faster than the virus.
China can't open up yet according to foreign analysts and health experts. The government refused to approve foreign-made vaccines, and there were questions over the efficacy of its domestic vaccines. Even if it did, a year of propaganda criticising them has ensured few people will be interested.
The analysts fear that China won't join the world in living with Covid even when conditions are better. There is no off ramp for zero- Covid because it is tied to the political legitimacy of the Chinese Communist party.
The impact of zero- Covid on the people's will and the economy's health may threaten the legitimacy of the government.
The legitimacy of power lies in the ability to provide safety and health. The director of Oregon State University's centre for global health said they have to show their competency.
Zero Covid has saved lives, but other consequences of keeping the policy are biting. In March, investors pulled a record $17.5 billion out of China's market, as economic analysts predicted continued slowdowns in growth.
Cargo ships and trucks have been stuck at ports and roads. Major problems in attracting and retaining talent have been reported by foreign firms. Finance workers and international teachers are leaving their jobs.
Police and censors are having a hard time keeping up with the amount of domestic frustration that is online and in Shanghai.
In an apparent acknowledgement of the toll the epidemic was taking, last month the president ordered officials to succeed with zero Covid but at the least cost and to minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development. In order to drive the economy forward, the president called for all-out efforts to spur infrastructure spending.
Prof Carl Minzner, a China scholar and professor of law at the Fordham Law School, says there is little space for officials to question the goals of the Covid goals.
There are people in bureaucracy who know the real cost of this.
Dissenting opinions among the political and medical elite are occasionally going public but are quickly scrubbed from the internet and many political opponents have been silenced.
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The Chinese Communist Party will hold its twice-a-decade congress later this year, which is expected to lead to a third term for leader Xi. The timing and impact of China's worst outbreak, as well as the Ukraine war, has upset the stability he hoped would see him through.
There is a chance that a failure of zero- Covid could be a challenge to the president.
We are in unknown waters in how these transitions work. It's not clear how it would work with constitutional amendments that remove term limits.
She says the political elite is the most divided she has seen since 1989.
There is debate among the elites. It's very dangerous to open up because it's hitting up against a time period for the president.
According to Chi, the attempts to avoid the lockdown were potentially overconfidence, or an example of dissent among leaders who wanted to go a different way.
The reason officials initially resisted a lock down was because it would cause a domino effect throughout the nation, Chi says.
25 million people were forced into a lock down as cases overwhelmed the city.
More than 12 million people in low risk districts were able to leave their homes after five weeks, but residents say there are still issues.
Wang Yi-chun, who did not want to use her real name, says she has been allowed to leave her apartment, but rules change quickly and without notice.
Wang says he never imagined that things would go to this level. They didn't have a solution. I don't understand what they are doing.
Beijing is now reporting dozens of cases a day, but as of Friday it was only locking down individual residences and venues. People in affected districts report for testing. Beijing's authorities are doing a better job than their counterparts in Shanghai, but still with the usual arsenal of measures.
The success of the pandemic has become a symbol of the success of the president's own political career.
It's hard to imagine how China would back down from a zero-covid policy.
Additional reports by Xiaoqian Zhu and Chi Hui Lin.
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