Covid in China
Everybody had to live through Covid-19, and at some points it felt like the pandemic was never going to end. While countries experienced different levels of intensity, rates of infection and duration of lockdown, we all shared a common struggle to get through in one piece. In this blog I will give an informative personal account of my experience going through Covid in China. I will talk about the process of going through lockdowns, the general attitude towards Covid, and the attitudes some foreign visitors encountered from locals as a result of the virus. While the virus was an awful experience for everyone, and there were some areas of life that were very uncomfortable, I believe that under the circumstances China did an excellent job of combating Covid.
Most of this blog will address the peak of the virus between 2020-2022.
Encountering the Virus 🦠
I arrived in China in August 2019, a few months before cases from Wuhan started to emerge, and during January the following year my friend and I decided to travel around our province (JiangSu 江苏省) and explore. We had also booked a ticket home for the Winter holidays, which would be from late January to early February. During our week travelling the province we began to hear that a new virus was affecting people, and every day we saw on the news that the numbers would jump by dozens of people at a time. By the time I was on the plane heading home, the number was beginning to increase by hundreds at a time, and eventually thousands.
During my time in the UK in early 2020, the virus was yet to reach the UK in any serious capacity. Meanwhile, schools in China were to remain closed, and the teachers were asked to provide some online videos for the students to watch in their time away from school. Some older students took online classes instead of educational videos. My parents were resolute that I should stay in the UK, but I was loving my new job in China, and went back the following month. I returned to a ghost town.
The Impact of the Virus on Everyday Life 🌆
The first few months of Covid-19 were unlike anything I had ever seen. We had no idea of the intensity of the virus, how infectious it was, or even where it came from. Because of this, the streets were deserted. Upon arriving into China on one of the last flights and getting into the city, I walked with my suitcase down a deserted street - not a car nor a person in sight. We needed a check-in card to our flat complex, and coming and going from the flat became very strict, restricted to once per day. Of course, most of us spent this time going to get groceries in case of a total lockdown, and due to this the stores were the only places in the whole province that were routinely jam-packed full of people. The lines would go on forever, and the shelves were stripped bare of toiletries, fresh and frozen produce and water. People would bulk-buy everything they could out of panic, and it was truly a first-come, first-served situation.
Everywhere was closed for a large period of the pandemic. The doors to schools, cinemas, gyms, restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, swimming areas, supermarkets and almost any other area you could think of were swiftly shut until further notice. However, China responded quickly to our need for food and groceries, and there were even some instances of delivery drivers helping people by bringing groceries to flats from closed supermarkets. The government also relaxed the regulations for how often we could go out. Supermarkets were quickly filled with fresh produce, and during the first stretch in my city we were allowed to leave for 2 hours every 3 days. This was much more manageable, although far from ideal!
China’s Preventative Steps 😷
China did an incredible job of limiting the spread of the virus, and although there were inevitably a large number of cases, it was arguably one of the countries that dealt with the pandemic the best. There were several total lockdowns and a long-term partial lockdown, and while this did have a large impact on the majority of people, the overall attitude was positive, and the country presented a united front against the pandemic.
Covid-prevention measures were enforced everywhere, and schools were no exception. Heading back to the kindergarten to teach during Covid was a bizarre experience, and I believe that student safety was mishandled in this instance. Combating the virus took the full scope of attention, leading to neglect in other areas. Where the halls had previously been full of fun and laughter, now the students and teachers were all strictly wearing masks in temperatures that could sometimes reach over 35°C (95°F), and playing our games, jumping and dancing, was torturous in this weather. The school’s students and teachers were visibly exhausted, and we were also tested daily at the school with a mouth swab. Luckily, this testing was very quick and organised quite efficiently, so it didn’t take up too much time and provided a welcomed distraction from the sweltering classroom. Eventually these measures were lifted, although they did see small comebacks as the virus would reach nearby cities, and in my following primary school daily checks were implemented again towards the end at 2022 before a small Covid outbreak infected the city.
During the height of the pandemic, masks were also to be worn outside at all times, and there were some safeguarding measures in place for where we went. For example, we had a coding system on our phones, where a green code would represent that we are Covid-free and have not been to any areas where there are Covid cases. Travel was limited to ensure that people couldn’t go too far, and green codes were also to be presented prior to departure. It would also have a separate section to show that we had been vaccinated. Upon re-opening, most stores and malls would demand that visitors present the codes before entering. Vaccinations came in multiple rounds, and were readily available with surprising speed. These were almost mandatory, as you couldn’t enter any area without one.
(Pictured below: The cards received from our Covid tests.)
Daily Testing Cards
There were several periods of time in which a daily mouth swab was required. These were done either in the school or in our community. Sometimes, both were required, and we could be tested between two to three times a day. This picture was taken in May 2022.
Even though the swabbing was very simple, the queueing led to taking up quite a bit of time, and sometimes we could spend hours a day in a line. In my own experience, this testing happened on-and-off from the beginning of 2021 up until the end of 2022.
Upon getting tested, one of these cards would be given out. This represented that you had been there for that specific day’s swab.
The (Unexpected) Benefits of Covid 🥹
Living in China during Covid wasn’t all hardships and woe - there were actually some unexpected upsides to being in China during the virus. To go into this topic fully, first I’ll need to talk about the difference between being employed in China as a local versus as a foreign visitor. From conversations with Chinese friends and co-teachers, I have learned that the job market is extremely competitive for local Chinese people. The employment rate is incredibly high, but the turnover rate in my two schools seemed particularly low. This was in high contrast to the foreign staff, who would often switch between jobs without a second thought. On the surface, this doesn’t seem to make much sense, as local teachers are paid a fraction of the foreign staff, and face much higher scrutiny from their management teams. Why would they stay where foreign teachers wouldn’t? While foreign teachers still have a very important job, and bring in excess money for schools and organisations due to lending an air of ‘prestige’, there is a clearly disproportionate division of labour, yet Chinese locals were more inclined to ‘put up with it’ due to facing much more competition while applying for job positions in a relevant field.
Considering what I have mentioned above, why are there lower turnover rates for foreigners? It’s simple. There are a lot of Chinese people in China, and there are not a lot of foreign ‘experts’ (老外). This means that to an extent, schools have to pander to foreign teachers, whereas local staff are seen as easily replaceable. Another factor to consider is that foreigners don’t have roots in any particular city, and there is often nothing except the job anchoring them to the place they’re currently in. On the one hand, this can lead to an entitled foreign department - something I have seen in both schools I was employed in - as they recognise their importance in the school and have leveraging power in negotiating their position, responsibilities and salary. On the other hand, it can feel demoralising, as you may feel that you are employed more for the status of school’s having a ‘foreign staff’ than the actual skills and qualifications you possess as a teacher. Private schools are businesses, after all (foreigners can’t work in government schools), and even seeing a foreign face is a huge driving point for making profits. Parents will be charged more for courses under the promise of a more 'authentic’ grasp of English, as well as the potential of eligibility for schools in foreign countries.
Due to the severity of Covid and the lockdowns everybody was put under, the schools felt that foreigners would leave the country to go back to their hometowns, and this turned out to be largely true. A huge amount of foreigners either chose to leave the school and go home or didn’t return from their holidays. As a result, our salary increased enormously, and this salary remains consistently high even to this day, as many foreign experts still don’t feel comfortable going to live abroad after the wide-reaching effects of Covid-19. It is also worth a brief mention that teaching online was implemented in some schools, which was so much easier to manage than a classroom. Simply teach a class, and then you have your own time to do whatever you’d like until your next class, which might not be for several hours. Despite lockdown, this could also make Covid feel like a holiday at times.
Unpleasant Encounters 😞
Unfortunately, at times Covid brought out the worst in us, and one of the main causes of this was the ‘blame game’. Instead of focusing on the issue of combating Covid, some took it upon themselves to blame other countries, leading to a China vs America debate, in which both countries blamed each other for the emergence of the virus. While it ultimately doesn’t matter where it started, this led to some unfortunate areas of discrimination around the globe. There was a huge ‘stop Asian hate’ campaign due to the severity of treatment towards Asian people for quite some time. In China, this was regrettably no different, although definitely not to the same level. In my city, of which a large majority of the residents are senior folk who have not travelled abroad, they adopted an ‘everyone is American’ perspective upon meeting a foreigner, and there were many instances of glaring and mouth covering while passing us. There were also larger instances of us not being permitted to enter certain public places, such as a mall, a cultural landmark and a nightclub, as well as some people receiving harsh words.
Despite this, it is worth highlighting the enormous pressure and stress everyone felt at this time. Everybody was struggling. While it could be draining to be on the other end of these stares, I have some of my best memories from encountering strangers, and Chinese people are largely some of the most open, friendly and hospitable people I have ever met. This is especially true if you speak even a little bit of Chinese. I’d recommend searching “speaks FLUENT Chinese” online and seeing the videos where a Chinese person’s face will light up when they hear a foreigner communicating with them in their own language.
