Every winter, Pang Qingguo, a fruit seller in northern China, undertakes the 800-kilometer journey to his ancestral home to celebrate the lunar New Year, China’s largest holiday of the year, with his family.
The coronavirus devastated the festivities last year and Mr. Pang stranded in the northern city of Tangshan. as many Chinese cities have instituted closures. As China opposes a revival of the virus, the pandemic will spoil the holiday again. The authorities announced a burdensome quarantine and tested rules against migrant workers such as Mr. Pang to turn away from the trip for the new year, which begins on February 12 this year.
Mr. Pang, who describes his home in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang as the ‘happiest place’, is troubled by the rules. He has been using social media in recent days to express frustration over his situation and post photos of his 7-year-old daughter, which he has not seen for more than a year. “Society is so cruel,” he wrote in one post.
“I really miss my daughter,” he said. Pang, 31, said in an interview. “But I can do nothing.”
Many of China’s roughly 300 million migrant workers face a similar reality as the government tries to prevent an increase in cases during the busiest travel season of the year.
Authorities demanded that people visiting rural areas spend two weeks in quarantine and pay for their own coronavirus tests. Many migrants, who endure grueling low-wage jobs in large cities, say the restrictions make it impossible to travel.
The implementation of the rules has drawn widespread criticism in China, and many people call the approach unfair to migrant workers, who have long been treated as second-class citizens under China’s strict domestic registration system. Without that registration, migrant workers will not be able to access social or medical services in the cities where they work. The workers were hit one hardest in China by the pandemic, as authorities shut down to fight the virus and reduced employers’ hours and pay.
In a normal year, hundreds of millions of people travel by plane, train and car to be with the family for the Moon New Year. The holidays, which usually include big feasts and fireworks, are usually the only time many workers can return to their hometowns to see their loved ones. This year, many are planning to spend the holidays alone.
Zhu Xiaomei, who works at a hardware store in the eastern city of Hangzhou, usually undertakes the 30-hour train journey to her hometown in the southwestern province of Sichuan to be with the family. This year she is going to spend the holiday alone for the first time in her 130-square-meter dormitory, which does not have a kitchen.
“Of course it’s a little upsetting,” Zhu, 40, said. “I’ve never experienced this feeling before.”
For many Chinese families, the holiday is a second year that the pandemic is keeping them apart. Just hours before the start of the lunar new year last year, authorities imposed drastic locks and suspended trains and planes across the country. Within hours, more than 35 million people in the city of Wuhan and the surrounding areas were ordered to stay at home.
Chinese officials are concerned that widespread travel could lead to new outbreaks, especially in rural areas, where testing is less frequent and there has been resistance to quarantines and other public health measures. While China’s outbreak is relatively under control compared to other countries and life in many cities is largely normal, clusters of new cases have emerged over the past few weeks, causing sporadic closures and attempts at mass testing. China reported 54 new cases on Wednesday, compared to more than 155,000 new cases in the United States on the same day. Chinese officials have promised to vaccinate 50 million people before the New Year, but there are still questions about the effectiveness of some vaccines manufactured by China.
Authorities still expect hundreds of millions of people to travel during the Moon New Year season, which runs from January to March, despite the threat posed by the virus. Many of the travelers go to big cities, not just rural areas. Several major cities have tightened travel restrictions over the past few days. Beijing requires visitors to test the virus negatively before gaining access.
The Chinese government, in response to the migrants’ dismay at the new restrictions, has tried to offer sweeteners, including gift baskets, activities and shopping discounts, to encourage them to stay put.
In Shanghai, officials plan to pay the phone and medical bills for those who abandon their trip home. In Beijing, authorities encouraged companies to pay overtime to employees, while domestic workers said they would receive about $ 60 if they worked during the holidays. In Tianjin, a northern city, the government has promised subsidies to businesses for every worker who stays over the holidays.
Some cities and counties have gone further and promised a better chance of gaining access to social benefits such as schooling and health care. Some officials offer favorable treatment to rural migrants who refrain from holiday travel for urban accommodation.
“Let migrant workers stay in work through these heartwarming measures and spend the Spring Festival without worry,” Chinese official Chen Yongjia said at a news conference in Beijing hosted by the Chinese cabinet, the State Council. In China, the New Year holiday is usually called the Spring Festival.
In the run-up to the holiday, the government led a propaganda campaign aimed at persuading migrant workers not to travel home. Large red banners used on piety and the model of civic behavior began to appear in the city streets.
“Mask or a fan? You choose one of the two, ”reads one banner.
“If you come home with the disease, you are a non-subsidiary,” exclaims another.
“If you spread the disease to your mother and father, your conscience is completely exposed,” reads a third banner.
The Chinese government is trying to avoid a major outbreak that could undermine the country’s economic recovery. Last year’s locks pushed the Chinese economy into its first contraction in nearly half a century, but it later bounced back when officials ordered it to borrow state – owned banks and open factories. Earlier this month, China reported that its economy had grown by 2.3 percent in 2020, and was probably larger than other major countries, including the United States.
It was less effective at getting people to spend money. A further widespread outbreak would give an intoxication to every pent-up demand for shopping that usually accompanies the lunar New Year holiday.
“What would be really harmful is if the virus spreads enough to close more factories and construction sites,” said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Gavekal Dragonomics, an independent economic research firm.
Mr. Kroeber says authorities do not seem eager to repeat last year’s draconian response.
“They’re trying to run a chord,” he said. Kroeber said. Setting strict rules at meetings for a second year would be an embarrassment, ‘he added.
The holiday restrictions contributed to the difficult time for many migrant workers in China. Many did not work for months last year because the economy came to a standstill amid lockouts and other restrictions. While wealthy workers in China mostly kept their jobs during the pandemic, many migrants struggled to earn their bread amid the savings on their salaries and hours.
Shi Baolian, 47, a worker at a chemical factory in the eastern city of Suzhou, said she was looking forward to going home for the holidays to see her father and help him clean his house. . But she canceled her plans after a group of cases broke out in her hometown in the northern province of Hebei.
Shi said she would rather celebrate the holiday with her husband in Suzhou. She said the city has ‘no new year atmosphere’ and that she misses the fireworks and red-and-gold banners of her hometown.
“I can not go home, so I will just work,” she said. “Once the epidemic is over, we will return.”
Albee Zhang and Cao Li contributed research.