China post pandemic

 The 2 weeks of quarantine wasn't bad at all. It's actually a great way to recover from jet lag. I studied Chinese, did yoga, cooked, cleaned, ran up and down the stairs every evening for aerobic exercise. 

On day 14 of quarantine a group of us were bussed to a large hangar-like building way on the outskirts of Beijing. We got our 3rd covid test there, then later that night I was informed that I'd tested negative and thus my quarantine was finished. 

There are now very few cases of covid in China. So how'd they do it? They stayed indoors for several months, all wore masks, and use a health app on their smart phones. China now has countless checkpoints as in the photo above. To enter cafes, stores, museums, parks, etc. you must first display your Green health app. If it's Red instead of Green, that means you must go into quarantine immediately for 14 days. Some people have complained that their app has inexplicably flipped off of Green for no apparent reason. Each morning when I open my app I'm always a bit apprehensive, but thus far it has remained green. 

Above photo and below: unfortunately I only have about a month left in China so I'm trying to see as much as possible-- temples, palaces, parks, etc. Things are not back to normal in China but they're getting there. On subways, in shops, museums, malls, cafes people wear masks. Many places require seeing your phone health app and taking your temperature before you can enter, and some hotels prohibit foreigners as guests. Still, places are open, you can travel, and-- incredibly-- cases of covid are now rare in China. 

It's going to be really hard to leave China and return to the US, especially since covid is so much worse in the US now. It didn't have to be this way. Back in February the US could have worked with China and learned a lot about how to effectively deal with the pandemic. In any case, I've had a fantastic 4 years here, and feel fortunate to have traveled a lot in this amazing country.