Locked at Home, Finding Joy in Reading and Growing Vegetables

Three years into the epidemic, lockdown has finally come to us. From May 1, cases began appearing one after another in the compounds around here, spreading across a wide area; more than 500 residents in our community had pop-up warnings on their Health Kit. My ominous premonition finally came true: our compound too was designated a prevention zone, in principle allowing entry but not exit. Over the last two days, however, no one has been guarding the community gate, and people come and go freely. Although a fence separates us from the control zone where cases have appeared, the fun-loving residents of our compound still gather at the community activity center without masks, enjoying themselves, and no one stops them.

More than 500 at-risk residents were flagged in the community, and with nucleic acid testing conducted every day over the last two days and again planned for the next two, the social workers' workload has increased greatly, and the community staff are exhausted. The weather in Beijing has turned hot; most people wear short sleeves, and the vegetables I grow wilt at midday. Yet the medical staff and social workers maintaining order at the testing sites still have to wear airtight protective suits—it is truly hard. I heard two people fainted from heatstroke today.

This evening, the Beijing municipal government issued a notice requiring teachers and students of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and vocational schools to delay their return to school by one week after the May Day holiday, with the exact return date to depend on how the epidemic develops. Our building is right next to two communities with cases, so regardless of whether anyone guards the gate, our family has consciously stayed indoors except for getting tested and taking out the trash.

Compared with many places that lock down an entire city at the first positive case, Beijing's current measures are quite humane; whether such control works well remains to be seen. If the epidemic can be brought under control through large-scale nucleic acid testing rather than citywide lockdowns, that would be a good approach. The epidemic has become normalized, and localities keep exploring prevention strategies that minimize the impact on people's livelihood; testing out the best plan benefits both the country and its people—it is just that the pressure on medical staff and social workers is truly enormous.

Today I saw three items in Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao. One mentioned that New York, having relaxed its prevention measures, had tightened them again due to a new variant; another noted that after Japan relaxed its policy, consumer spending did not pick up as expected, as inflation has made Japanese afraid to spend; a third said the French are now stockpiling heavily because of inflation and shortages, clearing supermarket shelves. It seems the epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have greatly affected global livelihood, and confidence has not recovered. Whether dynamic zero-COVID or coexistence with the virus, things will not return to normal worldwide any time soon.

I hold no hope of a return to the old state in the short term. For the past two years I have been serving patients remotely, solving some of their problems, and I have read more books than before, so the time has not been wasted. The year before last and last I could still go out to grow vegetables for recreation, but this year, with the situation as it is, I cannot even leave the compound freely, so I have to grow vegetables on the balcony as a pastime after work. Fortunately, in the two previous years I gardened at the foot of Xiangshan and learned how to grow vegetables in the Beijing area, so now I can manage on the balcony with ease.

With the epidemic upon us, our family has no trouble making ends meet, because we still have some savings, we are used to frugality, and our expenses are small. It is just pitiful for the many compatriots who cannot work remotely yet must feed their families; their livelihood has been greatly affected, and they live in hardship. I can accept any kind of prevention policy—dynamic zero-COVID or coexistence with the virus—as long as the impact on people's livelihood is minimized, I endorse and support it.

It is just that in recent years, no matter which prevention measures countries adopt, it will be hard for them to be perfect, and the global economy still has a long way to recover. In the age of plagues, we must grope for a way out that causes the least harm to all beings. Our country is vast and populous, so we can try out effective methods in different regions and then roll them out nationwide. Epidemic prevention is a technical problem that can be continuously improved; only good prevention strategies and technologies can reduce the suffering of all beings—mere emotional rhetoric and slogans cannot solve this great problem.

Given the epidemic, I have also postponed my own college-entrance-exam plans. Life is still long, and there is no need to rush any one thing. The greatest advantage of middle age is that emotions gradually become manageable and the mind can settle. In an age when one cannot travel ten thousand miles, simply lay to rest all restless scheming and stay home to read ten thousand books! Growing vegetables on the balcony not only helps out when the compound is locked down, but can also be enjoyed as a self-cultivating hobby in ordinary times—why not?