Photos of a Deserted Shanghai Caused by Coronavirus
With an increase in local Covid-19 cases in March, the roads seem to be getting emptier, and everything seems to be like they were back in 2020.
Video Tour of
Shanghai Fighting Against the Pandemic
Two years ago, we kept a photo diary of the city during the lockdown, and two years later, we set off again to record the city across 12 hours, from sunrise to sunset, in the latest Covid-19 situation.
This time, the city has more capabilities and confidence in managing Covid-19.
The Bund - Yan'an Elevated Rd - Xujiahui - People’s Square
At 6 am, almost no one is at the Bund Riverside.
As rush hour arrived, there were no traffic jams along East Zhong Shan No. 1 Road, and only buses were still running normally.
The Yan'an Elevated Road, usually packed and shown red to purple on the map, is clear and green even during the morning rush hour.
As one of the epicenters of the pandemic, Xujiahui has undoubtedly been hit hard.
Shanghai Grand Plaza 66, METRO CITY, One ITC, and other shopping malls and some merchants in the mall have adjusted their business hours.
Raffles City and the church in the People's Square area are also closed due to the latest Covid-19 regulations.
You can almost count the traffic on the road with one hand.
As most companies have resumed working from home, the People's Square Station of Metro Lines 1, 2, and 8 are also empty, and everyone can sit and practice social distancing.
East Beijing Road, which was also very busy on weekday mornings, is empty now.
Stores located near Middle Shandong Road are closed.
The fresh-food store on Ningbo Road may be one of the few places that have not been affected by the pandemic. Moms and grandmas are picking vegetables while discussing the lockdown in their neighborhood.
BFC - East Nanjing Rd - Yu Garden - Xintiandi - Huaihai Rd - Wukang Rd - Hengshan Rd
BFC is also impacted as fewer white-collared workers are around with their morning coffee.
Nonetheless, the cherry blossom trees by the road still attract passers-by to take pictures.
The previously prosperous Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street is now pretty empty.
Shanghai No.1 Department Store, Shanghai Shimao Festival City, First Foodmall and Shanghai New World Daimaru have hit a pause in their functioning, and only a few classic and brand stores are still open.
Yu Garden, which hold a lively lantern festival during the Spring Festival, is now “muted”.
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Entry to Yu Garden is still permitted; however, only a few tourists are around.
While Xintiandi is not as empty as other commercial areas, the traffic flow is lesser.
Occasionally, some guests were sitting outdoors for brunch.
The passenger flow of the Huaihai Road commercial area has dropped sharply, and most businesses have closed their doors according to the latest Covid-19 regulations. iapm, which has many luxury brands, is not as lively as it used to be.
Nanchang Road, known as the "back garden of Huaihai Road," has not seen such an empty street for a long time.
The popular Wukang Road also appears to be empty, and the old houses along the way look very beautiful under sunlight.
There are no visitors taking photos in front of the Wukang Building like the past.
The popular shop LOOKNOW along the street sees almost no customers.
Only buses can be seen driving past the withered trees on Hengshan Road.
West Nanjing Rd - Anfu Rd - Donghu Rd - Julu Rd, Fumin Rd & Changle Rd - North Xingyang Rd
The West Nanjing Road commercial area, which was always lively from morning to night, is now quiet.
The newly opened Guanglianshen Dim Sum Park does see some guests who come for takeaways, but long dine-in queues that were normal before are nowhere in sight.
HKRI Taikoo Hui is so empty that you can hear your footsteps.
However, some old brands still welcome customers who come to buy dim sum.
The Jing'an Temple area, which was in lockdown some time ago, is no longer busy.
There is no crowd of people on Anfu Road, and passers-by are all in masks, rushing around.
Only some businesses remained open, and their cashiers look pretty bored with no guests.
Julu Road lost its fashionable crowd and laughter.
When you walk to the intersection of Fumin Road and Donghu Road, the neighboring areas quickly sound noisy.
The terrace seats are almost full of customers eating brunch, and it seems that it has not been affected by the Covid-19 situation.
However, Xiangyang Park, which is less than 200 m apart, is full of long queues for nucleic acid testing.
Yongkang Rd - Yongjia Rd - West Jianguo Rd
Café streets like Yongkang Road, Yongjia Road, and West Jianguo Road still seem crowded.
Although there is not much traffic, there are still some diners and business seems alright.
West Jianguo Road, which was a previously busy street, now only sees some delivery riders picking up food orders.
Suzhou Creek - the Bund - East Nanjing Rd
Around evening time, we returned to the Bund.
There is not much traffic as we walk back to East Zhong Shan No. 1 Road.
Seeing the buildings light up, we don’t see usual tourist crowds or hear camera shutter sounds.
On our way back, the subway line 11, which was usually difficult to get on, is not crowded at all. Passengers can have an entire row of seats by themselves.
Compared to two years ago, people are no longer that worried about the Covid-19 situation, and they will not be easily defeated by it either. We hope that the pandemic will end soon and everyone’s lives will return to normal quickly!
Special thanks to all the friends participating in the video in different languages: Karmay Ngai (China), Pilar Valdivia C (Colombia), Tiago Brito (Portugal), Tsvetkov Vitalii (Russia), Pierre Martinez (France), Tremba-Pietz (Austria), Alexander Pietz (Germany), Adachi (Japan), Amy (Ukraine), Andrew Wang (USA), Nao (Japan), Greta (Italy), Margarete (Germany), Elisabeth (Germany), Ludwig (Germany), Ricardo Baltazar (Portugal)
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