Sadness and anger as China discourages travel for the New Year

(CNN) – Usually, hundreds of millions of Chinese people would pack highways, trains, and planes on their own journeys at this time of year to celebrate the lunar New Year with their family.

That’s a lot to ask. The Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival in China, is the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar – equivalent to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve together.

For many Chinese who have left their hometowns for better jobs in big cities, this is the only chance they can see their families this year. Parents who left children in villages so that they could work could still be without them for twelve months.

To discourage people from traveling, China’s National Health Commission has introduced new rules requiring people to return to rural areas to compile a negative Covid-19 test taken within the previous 7 days, and to spend 14 days on ‘home observation’.

Some local governments have added their own, stricter rules. In some places, for example, returning people have to be approved by the government for two weeks in a quarantine hotel, instead of staying under the supervision of their families at home.

The new restrictions provoked anger on social media, and some questioned government policy at a time when many people were hoping to go home.

“Do medical conditions in the vast rural areas allow everyone to undergo a coronavirus test every 7 days? Does not the coronavirus testing session carry a greater risk of infection? In addition, the state gives us only 7 days of legal leave, and now you are asking returned to isolate them for 14 days. What was your brain made of? “

State media celebrates China’s success in taming the coronavirus for months, contrasting its rapid, effective measures with the chaotic approach of some Western governments.

Given the rapid transmission of the virus, Beijing realizes the need to move fast, just like the Chinese people, but that does not mean they are happy about it.

Second lunar new year hit by coronavirus

This is the second year in a row that the lunar new year, which begins on February 12 this year, has been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than two million lives worldwide.

Wuhan was finally locked up two days before New Year’s Day, but millions of people in central Chinese city had already traveled to their hometowns in the weeks before the holiday, accelerating the spread of the virus.

After the holidays, many got stuck in their hometowns as new travel restrictions prevented them from returning to the cities where they worked.

This year, the departure hall at Beijing Railway Station remains largely empty in the run-up to the New Year. The government’s call for people to stay in the cities where they work has apparently worked.

If the predictions are correct, this is the lowest number of trips made during the New Year since the government started publishing records in 2003.

Criticism and censorship

China’s plans for lunar new year stand in stark contrast to the last major holiday in October, when crowds packed public transport and tourist attractions across the country for Golden Week.

Then, since mid-August, China has not reported any locally transmissible symptomatic case, and the government as well as the people were confident in keeping the virus under control.

This time, Chinese state media are launching a completely different propaganda campaign, which heightens people’s decision to remain seated as an act to fulfill their responsibility to the country – but the praise was not uniformly welcomed.

Last week, People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, posted an innocent message on Weibo.

“Every Chinese has their special memories of the Spring Festival. But this year the Spring Festival will be different than before … Tens of thousands of people have chosen to stay for the Moon New Year. They are committed to a better reunion in the future,” said it.

The report was soon flooded with angry comments. “Do not thank them. They all want to go home. That’s true,” reads a top comment, yielding more than 4400 likes in less than three hours.

“The government has set countless barriers for (people who) want to go home to pay a price. It returns the interest of homeowners to achieve the result the government wants. It is shameful that the government feels proud of this , “read another top comment.

“Can you as a state media bend to hear the voice of the people? Does your propaganda work only to please the leaders? We all know that we can not go home for the new year, and that you feel miserable about it, but you stay sensational about it and keep talking about it. Who really wants to hear your ‘thank you’? “said a comment, which was later removed as well.

On Weibo, however, users also complained that local governments in their hometowns imposed extra requirements on returnees, despite Beijing’s order that local authorities should not add excessive requirements.

“I think the policy is too strict,” said Dan Di, a 21-year-old student from the southern city of Guangzhou. He requested that a pseudonym be used to avoid criticism of the government.

He has just completed a 21-day quarantine – two weeks in a hotel in the nearby city of Zhuhai and one week at home in Guangzhou – after returning from Hong Kong, where he is studying film at the university.

Dan Di considers himself lucky if he could spend time and money on quarantine and coronavirus tests – but he noted that it would be available to many of the country’s nearly 300 million migrant workers.

“The spring festival is the only chance and the most important chance to go home, to stay with their family,” he said.

It instructs parents to use ‘phone calls and video calls to have’ heart to heart ‘conversations with their underprivileged children. ‘

Nakoming

After a difficult 2020, many Chinese people were looking forward to seeing their families. However, the outbreak in the north threatens to undo the work Beijing has done so far to curb the virus.

The city of Hangzhou in eastern China, for example, is offering a cash dividend of 1,000 yuan ($ 155) for each migrant worker. According to Chinese media reports, other cities offer shopping, discount rentals and even early access to coronavirus vaccines.

Tian Qimeng, who runs an engineering consulting firm in the port city of Tianjin in eastern China, said his company distributes 300 yuan ($ 46) in cash to non-local employees who choose to stay for the holidays.

“I originally wanted to go home too, but eventually decided against it because I wanted to be a good example to everyone,” he said.

The 49-year-old did not return to his hometown in Shaanxi province last year due to fears of the coronavirus. The last time he did not return home for two consecutive years was more than two decades ago, when he had just finished university – he was too busy working as a technician and he was on holiday. a building site.

Tian says he “respects and understands” the restrictions imposed on travel.

“They are all professional (health) experts. If you ask me to make a policy (policy), I can not come up with better people. Why not just follow theirs? It’s best for all to do what they are good at, “he said.

Others also follow official guidance.

Vicky Wang, an internet business in Shanghai, normally flies back to her parents in the north of Shaanxi Province a week before the Moon New Year.

Instead, this year the 25-year-old keeps up her favorite snacks – rice crackers and chocolates – as she prepares to spend the most important festival of the year alone in her apartment, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away from her family .

Wang said she understands the government’s proposals and concerns.

“We need to lead our lives in a safer way. We need to turn off all possibilities of spreading the virus. We need to sacrifice a little to keep everyone safe,” she said.