If you haven’t heard by now, China is facing somewhat of a crisis at one of it’s most important travel dates. The spread of a virus known as the Coronavirus (because it looks like a crown under the microscope) hit the city of WuHan a couple months back but didn’t get serious until just recently. So far, 17 people have died (as of January 24, 2020) but the number of people who have been confirmed to have the virus has climbed steadily. Most of the people who have died were in their 80s, but there were a few who were younger. The youngest so far was 48 years old.
That being the case, the WHO has not ruled it a public health emergency and given the efforts by China to contain the virus, it looks like it has been largely contained.
Despite the media flurry and the obvious health implications of this outbreak, the mood in Beijing doesn’t seem any different than any other Spring Festival that I’ve been here. People are still out and about, it is quiet, to be sure, but that happens all the time in Beijing during the Spring Festival. It’s actually one of the best times to have a staycation in the city!
However, the big difference this year is that the authorities have started shutting down a lot of the things that people would’ve liked to do, particularly if they were visiting Beijing during this time (as some families do from other parts of China).
Most notably and sadly is the cancellation of the Spring Festival temple fairs. Ditan Park and Longtan Park were the first to cancel their temple fairs, but the others followed close behind. I have written about quite a few of them over the years and they are one of the go-to things to do during the break, not simply because they happen only once a year, but they were a guaranteed food source during a time when a lot of places shut down. And I can’t help but feel a little bit sorry for the performers who were no doubt excited to put on a good show. Now they’ll have to dance at home.
However, the temple fairs weren’t the only cancellations. The Forbidden City and its Palace Museum will be closed in an effort to prevent the normal crush of visitors from spreading the virus. Further, the Capital Museum’s lunar New Year fairs will be cancelled, but the museum itself will stay open. It also looks as though the universities are closing their doors to visitors for the time being.
It’s easy to think that some of these cancellations will disrupt celebrations over the week-long break, but the truth of the matter is that a lot of places would have closed down anyway. Places such as the National Library, National Art Museum and the National Museum itself would have been closed for a few days anyway.
So, is this virus a big deal?
Well, I wouldn’t take it lightly and it’s good to see a response being broadcast and that action is being taken. Could it be as bad as other outbreaks, such as the 2003 SARS epidemic or other outbreaks in other parts of the world? If there is one thing that China can do decently well at this point it is to contain the virus.
Although the virus was first detected at the beginning of December, there was no knowing that it would become a bigger issue. The virus is suspected to have originated in one of the markets in Wuhan that sells a variety of animals, from poultry to seafood to other exotic reptiles, such as snakes. Originally, the virus was thought to have been transmitted by the civet cat or by bats, but now it’s believed to have originated from snakes which those smaller creatures.
That being said, they’ve already hemmed off Wuhan from the rest of the world, that alone sparked a mass exodus of people from the city before the streets and other transport routes were actually closed off. But I’m not sure how far those folks will get since there is an image floating around the internet that apparently depicts the location of these people.
In any event, I was able to take a look around this morning (Friday) as I dropped a friend off at the train station. I did notice that the train station was a bit less busy than normal, but that would also be because many people have already left Beijing for their hometowns.
The city streets were pretty empty already as most people would take the train or fly to their destination, not drive.
And getting through the train station wasn’t painful at all. Given that the government had shut down travel to and from Wuhan already, the train station pretty much ran as usual. Security wasn’t any tighter but just about everybody was wearing a mask over their face.
What kind of masks were they wearing?
This apparently has been a question to consider.
The preferred mask is the “doctor’s mask” because it’s cheap and can be replaced daily. The others that we normally wear to keep out that bad coal dust (PM 2.5) are the 3M masks with the little plastic vent in the side. But those are more costly so people are using them if they have to. There are also cloth masks, but those would need to be washed and disinfected after use just to be safe. You can see in the picture above in the train station just how many people are wearing masks. And that goes for the subway, too.
Of course, the important thing is that the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, also known as Chunwan (春晚), continues. If this gala were to be cancelled, then we’d know that things are really serious. The event, however, will play more of a focal point this year more than before since the authorities are encouraging people to stay home and away from the crowds. This gives the people something to think about something else for the time being.
You can watch online on many platforms, including the CCTV’s own live stream (http://tv.cctv.com/live/) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/springfestivalgala). (Never mind how they are able to broadcast internationally.)
And although I thought I head fireworks earlier, they don’t seem to have started in full just yet. Fireworks are now banned in Beijing city so if you really want to set them off you need to venture out into the suburbs of the city, to the likes of Changping or Tongzhou or further. Not sure I’m that committed tonight.
Anyway, although there is cause for concern with the coronavirus it does look like it’s being dealt with. And with that, given that the mass movement of people is mostly over for the next six days, it may give it enough time to dissipate so things return to normal at the beginning of February. Let’s hope.
And with that, have a good Lunar New Year. The Chinese are celebrating their new year while the Ukrainians are celebrating their own Malanka. Happy Year of the Rat!