Mint Mocha Musings

The hotelier's wife: an expat affair around the globe

  • Home
  • About Mint Mocha Musings
    • Contact Nicole
  • Blog Posts
    • Asian Adventures
    • Pacific Playgrounds
    • Expat Encounters
    • Repatriation Realities
    • Hotel Confessions
    • Motherhood Moments
    • Media Matters
    • China Culture
  • Work With Me
  • My Books!
    • My BOOKS
  • You’ll Find Me At….
    • Reviews/Interviews
    • Sunday Life
    • Sydney Morning Herald
    • Australian Hotelier Magazine
    • Mamamia
    • Kidspot
    • Essential Baby/Essential Kids
    • Huffington Post
    • FairPlanet.Org
    • Hong Kong Moms
    • JumpStart Magazine Hong Kong
    • AsiaSpa Magazine
    • W Hotel Hong Kong
    • Women With Words Hong Kong
    • The HK Hub
    • Expat Focus
    • SASSYmama/SASSYHongKong
    • Playtimes Magazine
    • Expats blog: an experience shared
    • expat blog
  • Snap of the Day in China
  • Word of the Week
  • Sponsored Posts/Reviews & Partnerships
  • Free Updates, Tips & Giveaways!
  • Travel Asia
    • China
      • Xi’an
      • Shanghai
      • Beijing
      • Guilin
      • Shenzhen
      • Hangzhou
      • Chengdu
      • Luoyang
      • Sanya
      • Guangzhou
    • Tibet
    • Hong Kong
    • Macau
    • Thailand
    • Singapore
  • Travel Pacific
    • New Caledonia
    • Fiji
  • Expats Transferring $$ Home
You are here: Home / Asian Adventures / Ground Hog Day: This is what life in China’s Coronavirus lockdown is really like.

Ground Hog Day: This is what life in China’s Coronavirus lockdown is really like.

by Nicole Webb

Xian China coronavirus

“Ever heard of the movie Ground Hog Day? Well that pretty much sums up how we feel.” 

Those are the words of my good friend, Jenna, living in Xi’an, North West China with her husband and two girls, nine and thirteen. 

“With school closed until at least the 18th of February, it’s get up, breakfast, exercise, play with toys, boardgames, cook, repeat,” she says. 

Xi’an is in Shaanxi Province which shares a border to the south with Hubei Province, and its capital Wuhan, the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak. 

Currently over 20,000 people worldwide have developed the virus with over 400 confirmed deaths. While that figure is steadily rising, and has now overtaken the death toll from SARS, it’s still only a two per cent fatality rate.

But China’s Communist Party is taking no chances. At least not at face value. 

The outbreak has prompted a response unlike any other in modern history, with Chinese authorities locking down many cities and towns around Wuhan, the city of 11 million where it’s believed the virus originated in a market selling wild animals.

That’s tens of millions of people effectively shut off from the outside world.

Coronavirus in China

Anyone who’s ever been to China will tell you, there’s rarely a quiet moment in the nation with the world’s largest population. The streets are at best, chaotic – humming with people, cars, busses, motorbikes, food carts, and street cleaners, day and night — all fighting for their space amongst the pandemonium. The noise can be almost deafening.

But not this month.

“It feels very eery, like a ghost town, everything is closed down. The only places that are required to stay open are the supermarkets and hospitals. At our complex one gate is completely sealed off, with one left open for us to get out and go shopping. No one from outside the building is allowed in. No family, no friends.” 

“The days are still and far too silent for this city of 9 million people.” says Jenna, who having lived in China for 13 years, has seen it all.

Her main concern though is the millions who sell fruit and veggies at the local wet markets or run local restaurants. “How are they going to get an income?” she wonders. “At least the big companies are looked after by the government.”

Lockdown Coronavirus

An Australian friend Robyn, who’s been in China for nine years, and was due to return home to Australia any day now (flights depending) is feeling bereft that there will be no goodbyes in person, no last hot pot meals, just a quiet exit. “We are now very isolated in this crowded city,” she says.

She has a friend who lives in the south east of Henan, very close to the border of Hubei Province, just three hours drive from Wuhan. She tells her, all roads into my village are barricaded.

Chinese Village Coronavirus

“So instead of the normal flocks of people returning to celebrate Spring Festival, my village is very quiet. Everyone is bored and strangely no groups of people are milling around talking and no children are playing.” 

Coronavirus fever

Temperature taking is the new norm across the Middle Kingdom. Officials in full Hazmat-style body suits are taking temperatures at random, catching people when they go out, and when they return home, and everything is being recorded.

Police and security guards are knocking on people’s doors to check if anyone in the household’s feeling unwell, is harbouring any visitors or has travelled anywhere in the past week. 

Police coronavirus

And in a nation that survives on Taobao deliveries with thousands of little Tuk Tuks weaving in and out of laneways delivering packages to one and all 24/7, now, all deliveries are left at the gates, making contact minimal. 

Messages come through on We Chat, the What’s App equivalent, informing people there will be ‘centralised spraying of medicinal drugs by aircraft.” What drugs nobody is really sure.

Coronavirus We Chat

The communal areas in Jenna’s apartment are regularly sprayed down with vinegar, while a friend’s complex is doused in bleach. 

Public transport is down to a bare minimum. Didi the Uber equivalent has stopped and taxis are few and far between. If you do manage to hale a taxi and they stop, you need to show your passport; all details are recorded including where they picked you up and dropped you off. 

 In Wuhan, naturally, things have reached another level with almost everything closed. Bibby, a Chinese local says, people are told not to go out unless it’s an absolute emergency. “Supermarkets are open for a limited time from 10am to 6pm with meat and veggies the most difficult to buy, and always the first thing to run out.” 

Wuhan Coronavirus

Face masks, which have usually only been an accessory for foreigners protecting themselves against the heavy pollution are now mandatory, or face a hefty fine. 

Hotel General Manager, Peter, in Shenzhen, China’s far southwest, had just come through the border crossing from Hong Kong after evacuating his teenage daughter, when he messaged me. “It’s unheard of but almost no-one is at immigration and everyone going through has to fill in a health declaration.”

He has 400 hotel staff due back from various provinces around China after Chinese New Year and is renting rooms to quarantine them.  

Meantime, in Hong Kong, thousands of medical workers have gone on strike, demanding the city’s government shut down all of its borders with mainland China, to keep out the spread of the virus they call WARS.

Hong Kong Corona Virus

Many foreigners have chosen to leave the city which is already reeling from months of pro-democracy protests, not to mention the 2003 SARS epidemic which still weighs heavily on the city. Hong Kong local, Mona, says back then, they all worked together to fight the disease but 2020 is very different. “We urged the government to close the borders as quickly as possible but they are not listening.” 

“Because of no planning the supply of masks is extremely tight and people are queuing up for four to five hours to buy just one box of masks, with some stores selling them for HKD900 (US$115).

Hong Kong People

Hong Kong infectious disease experts are urging the government to take ‘draconian’ measures, estimating as many as 44,000 people could be infected in Wuhan, a figure far higher than official numbers.

Amongst the uncertainty, it’s believed the epidemic could peak around the end of April, early May.

This article from Well Women explains why, despite the risk, so many expats are still choosing to stay in China.

For them, ground hog day or not, it’s still home and in many instances, probably safer than travelling.

 

Nicole Webb is a Sydney Journalist, Writer and Speaker who spent seven years in China. Her debut memoir ‘China Blonde’ will be out mid 2020.

Related Posts

  • China’s Coronavirus ComebackChina’s Coronavirus Comeback
  • Travelling the Famous ‘Silk Road’ in the 21st Century: Will You Take the Journey?Travelling the Famous ‘Silk Road’ in the 21st Century: Will You Take the Journey?
  • Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors: The Largest Jigsaw in the World Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors: The Largest Jigsaw in the World
  • Living in China: Week One –            One Foot in Front of the OtherLiving in China: Week One – One Foot in Front of the Other
  • Stop the Press: We’re Moving to China!Stop the Press: We’re Moving to China!
  • Do all roads lead to China?Do all roads lead to China?

Enjoyed that post? If so, why not sign up to Mint Mocha Musings so you don't miss a thing! Updates, Tips and Freebies

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Instagram profile

Nicole Webb

Nicole is a journalist and writer (former News Reader with Sky News Australia) who, back in 2010, took a leap of faith and embarked on a journey to the city that never sleeps, Hong Kong! Fast forward four years, and Nicole, her hotelier husband and toddler stepped things up a notch and moved to Central China, where they lived in Xi'an for 2.5 years. Back in Sydney after a whirlwind adventure, Nicole continues her musings! Check out Mint Mocha Musings for plenty of intriguing, humorous and uplifting tales from her expat life in Asia so far. You can also find her on Twitter: @nicoledwebb. and Instagram at Mint Mocha Musings.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by Nicole Webb (see all)

  • Back to School: Helping Children to Adjust During the Coronavirus Pandemic -
  • China Blonde Musings -
  • CHINA BLONDE: How a newsreader’s search for adventure led to friendship, acceptance….and peroxide pandemonium in China. -

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Asian Adventures, Chinese Culture, Expat Encounters, Global Galavanting, Media Matters, Mint Mocha Musings Tagged With: China, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Wuhan, Xi'an

Comments

  1. Natasha (Argentina) says

    at

    Hello Nicole, Nice to meet you..!
    You have been discussing recent horror issues. Which is very important for the world. I listened to the movie “Ground Hog Day” and now watched the short video. Here the author points out the Chinese position. I see this very seriously. Never imagined that there would be such an awful coronavirus in 2020. Coronavirus has been shown to have a negative effect on most people, including China. I pray that all people on earth are healthy and safe 🙂

    • Nicole Webb says

      at

      Hi Natasha,

      Nice to meet you too. Thank you for leaving your comment on Mint Mocha Musings post on coronavirus. Yes it is a very uncertain time around the globe right now. Hoping it will all be a distant memory, soon. Take care. Nicole

  2. Cella says

    at

    Hi Nicole
    We received the same wechat message in Beijing about the Aircraft spraying, but it was just a rumour, it didn’t eventuate. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

    • Nicole Webb says

      at

      Hi there, I was just thinking I should’ve contacted you too. How are you going up there?

Search here …

Order China Blonde here!

http://www.nicolewebbonline.com

Expats – Need to Transfer Money Home?

sending money home

NordVPN

Need a VPN

ClearFx Currency Converter Add this to your site
Australians living in Hong Kong
Support for repatriation!
Paperblog
Australian Women Bloggers Directory by Blog Chicks
Tripoto
Expat Interview
iCompareFX.com Expat Blog Awards 2017
Follow
Top 20 Expats Blogs 2017

VOTE NOW

Banners for Asian Expat Blogs Award 2018

Follow Me on Twitter!

  • Congratulations on your new book Animal Liberation Now @PeterSinger ! And a great, thought provoking podcast with… https://t.co/HJugr7UZDX 06:29:12 PM June 13, 2023 from Twitter for iPhone ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • A thoughtful interview by @SarahGrynberg on #ALifeofGreatness. Sarah's known for her in depth podcast, chatting wi… https://t.co/xDw9QMBSS3 03:42:13 PM June 13, 2023 from Twitter Web App ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • @mazymixer Hilarious isn’t it!!! 09:41:30 AM June 13, 2023 from Twitter for iPhone in reply to mazymixer ReplyRetweetFavorite
@nicoledwebb

Instagram

Follow Me!

Like Our Adventures on Facebook!

Top Posts & Pages

  • Contact Nicole
    Contact Nicole
  • About Mint Mocha Musings
    About Mint Mocha Musings
  • China's Paradise on Earth - Hangzhou!  Is it Worth a Visit?
    China's Paradise on Earth - Hangzhou! Is it Worth a Visit?
  • Eight Cultural Taboos in China You Really Ought to Know....
    Eight Cultural Taboos in China You Really Ought to Know....
  • Bridesmaids for Hire: This is China, Where it's More Than Just Holding the Bouquet!
    Bridesmaids for Hire: This is China, Where it's More Than Just Holding the Bouquet!
  • To Understand China, You Need to Understand the Power of 'Guanxi.'
    To Understand China, You Need to Understand the Power of 'Guanxi.'
  • Shenzhen! There's more to China's fastest growing city than shopping...
    Shenzhen! There's more to China's fastest growing city than shopping...
  • Maid in Hong Kong - the Helper phenomenon...
    Maid in Hong Kong - the Helper phenomenon...
  • Travelling the Famous 'Silk Road' in the 21st Century: Will You Take the Journey?
    Travelling the Famous 'Silk Road' in the 21st Century: Will You Take the Journey?
  • Having a Baby in China...the Good, the Bad, the Ugly!
    Having a Baby in China...the Good, the Bad, the Ugly!

© Copyright 2014 Mint Mocha Musings · All Rights Reserved · Graphics by Miss Pickles · Design by Project Prettify ·

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d