Banished From Beijing and Longing to Return

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In what has turned into a never ending nightmare, COVID-19 continues to affect international families and teachers in Beijing. At the beginning of the pandemic, panic fueled by limited information around what exactly this novel virus was and how it spread sparked a mass exodus of foreigners from Beijing. Those with families concerned about the safety of their children and loved ones made the decision to leave the country until situations in China improved. What’s more, the subsequent postponement of the Spring semester saw local and international teachers out of work, leading to those who had left the city during Chinese New Year deciding to remain outside the country, and many more within China to leave.

Monica, a mother of two and a teacher at a Beijing-based international school is one of the many hybrid Beijing families currently caught in the maelstrom of COVID-19. Monica decided to leave with her family at the height of the crisis in China. Despite the majority of cases having been contained in Wuhan, she, like many parents in Beijing, feared the acceleration of the few local cases and what that could ultimately mean for her family’s security. However, even after numerous reports of the situation being under control, Monica would discover a return to Beijing wouldn’t be as smooth a process as it would have been at any other time.

International airlines had preemptively cancelled most flights into various destinations in China, which was further exacerbated by the virus spreading to nearly all of Europe and America. Once the situation in China had been brought under control, China then turned its attention to the potential risk of importing the virus from other countries. This is where the situation gets complicated for Monica.

A day before the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry’s official announcement barring entry of foreign nationals into China, Monica woke up to a notification of her latest flight bookings being cancelled. Back in the UK, where she has been since leaving China, she admits to being scared at the situation. “England’s health service can’t handle this,” she intimated to me, adding how overwhelmed she felt thanks to the current situation. “I really feel overwhelmed. I started taking Mr. Sleeping tablets because I was getting panic attacks,” she confessed as she explained the situation.

Sensationalist journalism in Western media only seems to make matters worse for those in Monica’s position, as they continue to predict what can only be described as Armageddon in Western nations’ fights against COVID-19. As the death toll continues to rise in countries like Italy, Spain, the UK and US, it is a terrifying reality to confront, especially in the face of the relative safety and peace of mind a return to China would afford families such as Monica’s.

Monica is far from the only international school teacher facing this uncertainty. Ruth, currently stuck in the States, was equally surprised by the foreigner ban announcement. After returning to her home town in the US, she set about trying to find a flight to Beijing, which continued to prove difficult due to numerous cancellations. A flight which was meant to see her back in Beijing in mid-March was rescheduled several times, finally landing on a mid-April date.

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When last we spoke, she brought me up to speed on her plans to return to Beijing. “I am now looking at flights through Taipei as it seems like the only airline for now that isn’t being diverted. But I need a break. I am mentally exhausted trying to figure all this out! So I am now looking at April as the transit ban is lifted in Taiwan.”

The emotional and psychological toll exacted by the mental acrobatics of finding a way back to Beijing is unimaginable to those in Ruth and Monica’s position. And while international Beijing residents band together in WeChat groups to offer each other advice and some much needed support, for someone like Ruth, they seem to be doing more harm than good. “I am in these quarantine groups and they are doing my head in. I am about to exit stage left!” she said.

Further panic continues to be sparked by the uncertainty surrounding the Chinese Foreign Affairs announcement, as rumors claiming this ban will likely stay in place until the end of Summer continue to circulate in various international groups. For now, Monica and her children remain in the UK, dealing with an uncertain future and the terror of an overwhelmed healthcare system in their own country.

As time passes, Beijing for these families feels less and less like a familiar home they were soon to return to, and more like the Promised Land they desire to reach but remain locked out of.  A sentence of banishment without any chance of an appeal.

*The names in this story have been changed out of privacy for those profiled.

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Photos: Unsplash, Pixabay

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