'We each have our COVID stories...'

If you live in China, I think it may be easy for us to agree that the last three weeks have been as much of a whirlwind as the last three years. So many things have happened in what would under normal conditions be a series of events that would be expected to occur over a much longer period. Then, without warning, just like that, spinning on that proverbial dime, everything once again has changed.

For almost three years, we have been part of China’s Zero-COVID policy that aimed to make sure that we were kept safe during the many different phases of COVID. To say that there are many people with many thoughts about this ever-changing COVID policy, would be something of an understatement. Not only has every person here in China had something to say, but it seems as if every government has had something to say about it as well.

In my humble opinion, I don’t think that anything else could have dealt with the enormity of the very grave situation that China successfully faced, but the policy that is now changing with the times, even if it became difficult to deal with as the years went on.

On our first Chinese New Year (CNY) in China, my boys and I made our version of dumplings by ourselves, I cleaned our apartment, and I took my boys to have some sweet fried fish from the restaurant in our community. Our second CNY was celebrated with a group gathering the weekend before CNY. An assortment of friends, both Chinese and foreign, came over, and we made hundreds of dumplings for hours, ate them, and enjoyed each other’s company. I was so excited by our third CNY for weeks ahead of time because we were invited to the home of a friend of mine who was entertaining for her son and his wife. My friend’s husband would cook, and my boys and I would for the first time experience a completely authentic CNY celebration. I bought us new outfits, brought over some snacks for the family, and we entered this most special of occasions.

We each have our COVID stories, no matter if they began overseas or domestically, we all have been united by a range of experiences that reflect something far larger and most certainly grander than any of those singular moments could have represented on its own. This mosaic of experiences, especially for this generation who until this time, as adults hadn’t been part of experiences such a potentially disruptive and ultimately unifying experience as these.

On that New Year when we went to a friend’s house to participate in an authentic Chinese New Year’s celebration to bring in 2020, everything seemed right. With the CCTV Spring Festival Gala as an ongoing companion throughout the evening, we made dumplings together, nibbled on snacks, told stories, and ate a tremendous amount of amazingly prepared food. We laughed, talked, and watched New Year programming well into the night. We spent the night with our friends and by the morning when we walked around their neighborhood to take in the new year, we were all given masks and told that we had to wear them. Our temperatures were taken. I didn’t understand what was going on. When we came back to my friend’s place, we chatted a bit more and she explained to me that there was some sort of virus. She gave us masks and we were soon on our way back home.

Today we are in the safe COVID season. As I see it, the government has studied all that could be studied to see that then when we unmasked and stopped scanning, that we would all get this easily transmitted, but in comparison to the beast that took the world’s attention back in 2019, inconsequential version of COVID. Yes, it has been hard not going back home and not being able to travel abroad, outside of China, outside the city, outside of my neighborhood, or outside of my apartment, depending on the regulations or situation, but here I am. Here we are. Safe. As we enter this new season of enjoying the freedom of travel without the heightened fears of getting locked out or locked down, let us remember all of that which brought us here. We made it and yet, let us never forget or stop giving our hearts to the many who did not.

We each have our COVID stories, no matter if they began overseas or domestically. We all have been united by a range of experiences that reflect something far larger and most certainly grander than any of those singular moments could have represented on its own. This mosaic of experiences, especially for this generation who until this time, as adults, hadn’t been tested in this way, or part of an experience so disruptive and ultimately unifying as COVID has been.

Sometimes, especially on a clear evening like this one, as I sit on my soft yellow chair admiring the skyline heights and lights, of one of our downtown neighborhoods, it’s difficult to believe that it’s been nearly three years since the world went upside down. As I sit here and gaze into the dusk, I consider the many lives lost, and due to the COVID policy that has transitioned into a new and very different phase, the many lives saved. I will forever be humbled by all of it.

The author is a freelance writer.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

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