Some people in China’s key
cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan braved the cold and a
spike in Covid-19 infections to return to regular activity, confident of a boost to the economy as more recover from
infections.
Among those who gathered to sled or ice skate on a frozen
lake in the capital’s Shichahai Lake Park were some upbeat about
the opening-up, after China dropped stringent “zero-Covid”
measures on December 7 to adopt a strategy of living with the virus.
However, a wave of infections has since erupted nationwide,
after borders had been kept all but shut for three years amid a
strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing.
“After the end of this lockdown, we don’t have to scan the
health code anymore, nor do we have to check the travel code,”
said one of those in the park, Yang, who gave only one name.
Also at the lake was Zhong, a 22-year-old college student,
who said he had stayed home for two or three weeks after getting
infected.
“Now I can go out and it’s good timing for the New Year’s
Day holiday,” he added. “I want to go around in Beijing, have a
look and feel the festive mood.”
Monday was a public holiday, but traffic in the capital has
built up again in the last few days as people flock to outdoor
sites, although business is still slow in some smaller, confined
locations, such as restaurants.
The owner of a Beijing seafood restaurant said patrons had
not returned to full strength.
“I expect this situation to linger through the Lunar New
Year holiday,” said Chen, who gave only his surname. “I am
counting on business to be more normal after the holiday.”
In the central city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began three
years ago, people were not as anxious anymore, a man surnamed
Wu told Reuters.
“Work production, life, and entertainment are all getting
back to normal levels,” added Wu, a tutor at a private training
centre.
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Lunar new year travel
China’s biggest holiday, Lunar New Year, begins on Jan 21
this year, when the railway network is expected to carry 5.5
million passengers, state broadcaster CCTV has said.
As expectations for holiday travel grow, authorities at
Tibet’s spectacular Potala Palace said it would open for
visitors from January 3, after shutting last August due to a
Covid-19 outbreak.
Some hotels in the southern tourist resort of Sanya are
fully booked for Lunar New Year, media have said.
In recent days state media have sought to reassure the
public that the Covid-19 outbreak was under control and nearing
its peak.
Infections in the cities of Beijing, Guanzhou, Shanghai, and
Chongqing are close to ending, news outlet Caixin said on
Sunday, citing researchers in the Chinese commercial hub.
But infections will peak in the urban regions of Sichuan,
Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai in the latter half of January, they
added.
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