ISSUE 7 | Not Trying to Catch Feelings or Coronavirus

Editor's Note

The COVID-19 outbreak has changed everything about daily life in China, including dating. Amy DeCillis is a 22-year-old American in her final year of study at Shanghai New York University (NYU Shanghai), where she is majoring in Global China Studies. Many of Amy’s classmates transferred to a different NYU campus or went back to their hometowns for the semester, and her other friends had to extend their overseas winter vacations. But Amy decided to stick it out in Shanghai, taking online classes while waiting for the campus to re-open.
新型冠状病毒改变了人们日常生活中的每一件事，包括约会。苗苗，22岁，美国人，上海纽约大学全球中国史专业学生。今年是她大学本科生活的最后一年。许多苗苗同级的学生都已经转到纽约大学其他校区，或者是回到了自己的家乡，她的其他朋友也被迫在海外延长了寒假假期。但是苗苗选择在上海坚守，通过网课进行学习，等待校园的重新开放。
In this blog post (published on Amy’s personal blog on Feb 23rd), Amy describes her adventures with the popular dating app Tinder (endnote 1) during this time. She has been using Tinder as a “dataset” to keep track of expats in Shanghai during the coronavirus outbreak -- how many have fled China, who have stayed, and what they are looking for. But given the current lack of options for socializing, she is now also using the app to go on dates. Her attempts at connecting with the dwindling number of online singles in Shanghai are sometimes hilarious, sometimes frustrating, and rarely romantic.

在这篇帖子中（于2月23日发布于苗苗个人博客），苗苗讲述了她在交友软件Tinder（尾注1）上的一系列奇遇。她一直把Tinder当作一个外国人动向“资料库”，去了解疫情期间在上海的外国人的最新消息 —— 有多少逃离了上海，哪些人留了下来，他们有哪些需求。但考虑到目前社交途径的稀缺，她现在也用这个软件约约会。在上海的Tinder单身群体不断缩小，而她与他们的经历有时滑稽，有时令人沮丧，多数时候并不浪漫。

 unCoVer 

▼

Not Trying to Catch Feelings or Coronavirus

不要感情，也不要感染

Author: Amy DeCillis

Translators: Amy DeCillis, Maggie

Originally published on: Medium

While Shanghai is a city of approximately 24 million people, it has felt like a ghost town since the novel coronavirus hit. There are barely any cars on the road, almost no one on the subway, and significantly fewer expats on Tinder. Most of the guys I matched with before winter break are now thousands of miles away with new bios. For the poor guys who have stuck around, they are definitely bored and in desperate search of Netflix-chilling not necessarily implied (endnote 2). In fact, a lot of people are scared of actually meeting up at all.

虽然上海有大约2400万人，但是新冠病毒来袭之后，这座城市就如同鬼城一般——路上没什么车，地铁上也没几个人影，Tinder上的外国人也尤其的少。许多我在寒假之前配对到的男孩，现在大多都带着新的Tinder个人介绍跑到千里之外去了。而那些悲催的还留在上海的男孩们，也绝对无聊死了，而且肯定想找网飞快活快活（不一定是它的延伸涵义哈！）（尾注2）。实际上，很多人害怕任何形式的见面。

A Tinder user, likely stuck at home for days, is trying to borrow someone’s log-in credentials for the video streaming app Netflix. 

一个估计在家呆了好几天的Tinder用户尝试借用别人的Netflix登录信息

Tinder typically comes with a side of risk. The person you meet up with could kill you, give you an STD, or worse, catfish you (using a fake profile). Now, on top of all that, you could catch the coronavirus. Guys in Shanghai, aware of this new risk and thirsty as ever, have certainly risen to the challenge and adjusted their Tinder game accordingly. I’ve seen lots of coronavirus jokes, people claiming to not be from Wuhan, and one guy even posted a picture of a thermometer to prove he’s healthy.

玩Tinder通常会有几丝风险。跟你见面的人有可能会危及你的生命，传染性病，或者更糟，用假的个人信息钓你的鱼。现在除了这些以外，你还有可能因为ta感染上新冠病毒。当然，一些饥渴的男孩已经意识到这一风险，于是想方设法地调整自己的Tinder战略，以迎接新冠病毒给约会带来的新挑战。我看到了很多涉及新冠病毒的玩笑，也有很多人声明自己不是来自武汉的，有个人甚至发了张他温度计的照片来证明他的健康。

A Tinder user is posting his body temperature to show he doesn’t have a fever. Temperature check points are common at businesses and residential compounds in Shanghai at this time (endnote 3).

一个Tinder用户用温度计的照片来证明自己没有发烧。体温检查现在在商业区及住宅区非常普遍（尾注3）

On the one hand, I think I’ve got mad game because even though everyone is terrified of catching the coronavirus, I can still find a date. On the other hand, everyone’s standards have dropped significantly since the mass exodus, so I should not be too proud. Tinder really seems to be a means of survival these days. I don’t even mean in terms of fighting loneliness – I had a guy straight up ask me for masks the other day. His request was a humble reminder that I, in fact, do not have mad game. Upon realizing that I was being used for masks, I decided not to share.

一方面，我感觉自己魅力非凡，因为在大家都怕得病的情况下，我还能找到约会对象。另一方面，新冠病毒赶走了大量单身青年，人们的标准于是也降低了不少，所以我好像不应该自我感觉良好。Tinder甚至似乎成为了一些人的生存妙计，当然我的意思不是他们以此驱赶寂寞，而是有一次一个男的直接问我有没有多余的口罩。他这一问才提醒了我，我虚心地意识到我并没有那么魅力四射。我这不就成了他拿到免费口罩的工具了吗，我才不跟他分享。

An example of a “thirsty” Tinder user who is trying to meet people during the coronavirus outbreak.

一个“饥渴”的Tinder用户想要在新冠病毒疫情期间结交朋友

Of course I would love to meet someone who already has their own mask the good old fashioned way, but nothing is open. You can’t meet someone at a movie theater, a bar, or a restaurant because all of those places are closed right now. Except for a few, most restaurants are only delivering and only a couple bars have started opening this weekend (endnote 4).

我当然想要通过传统的方式去和那些有口罩的人见面，但是哪儿哪儿都关门了。约个会还不能去电影院、酒吧或者餐厅。除了极个别的，大部分餐厅都只送外卖，只有少数酒吧终于在这周开始营业了（尾注4）。

Even if you do manage to meet someone, everyone’s wearing a mask and it’s not the cute kind you wear to a masquerade ball. The masks we’re all sporting these days are sweaty and just alert you to the stench of your own breath. I think I’ve actually gotten a few pimples from wearing them so much, which of course has not helped my Tinder game. 就算你费尽千辛万苦当面见到了你的约会对象，每个人都戴着口罩，还不是那种带去化妆舞会的漂漂亮亮的面罩。我们的口罩里面不仅有汗，而且它无时不刻不让你意识到自己呼吸时的口气。更何况，我好像因为戴口罩太久长了好几颗痘痘，这当然也没有帮我在Tinder上追到男人。Mom, if you’re still reading this, please don’t worry about me. I’m not pregnant or dead yet, and the guards at my apartment complex aren’t even allowing guests in. Also I promise I’m putting more effort into my online classes than online dating.

妈，如果你还在看的话，请不要担心我。我没怀孕，我也没死，我公寓的保安现在根本就不让我带人回家。还有，我保证我会把我的注意力集中在网课，而不是网恋上。

Endnote 1: Tinder is a social networking and online dating application that allows the users to anonymously swipe to “like” or “dislike” other profiles based on their photos, a short bio, and common interests. Once two users have “matched”, they can exchange conversations.

尾注1: Tinder是一款国外社交应用程序，与国内“陌陌”类似。用户可浏览其他用户的照片、个人说明以及共同兴趣，并匿名滑动屏幕以选择“喜欢”或“跳过”。当双方用户“匹配”后，可互发消息、组织线下见面等。

Endnote 2: “Netflix and chill” is an invitation for someone to come over and watch a movie on the streaming app Netflix. It’s often used now as slang for casual romance or hooking up. During the coronavirus outbreak, some guys on Tinder seem more interested in getting the video content rather than the hookup.

尾注2：“网飞快活”（Netflix and chill) 指邀请别人到家中在视频流软件“网飞”(Netflix)上看电影。但作为俚语通常指随意的恋爱关系或者勾搭、约炮。这里指在新冠病毒期间，一些人对看网飞上的视频比勾搭、恋爱更感兴趣。

Endnote 3: Temperature checks are implemented in Shanghai and other cities to detect potentially infected citizens in places such as airports, offices and residential complexes. On February 8th, a press conference was held by Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in which authorities reported that the majority of the residential complexes have successfully implemented the “closed-off management”, measures including temperature checks, traffic control, etc.

尾注3: 体温检测在中国各城市的机场、办公地点、住宅小区均有执行，以检测可能感染新冠病毒的居民。在2月8日，上海市疾控中心举行新闻发布会，报告称上海大部分小区已实现“准封闭式管理”，措施包括体温检测、严控小区出入口数量等。

https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5856591

Endnote 4: On January 24th, Shanghai launched a Level 1 public health emergency response, and on the 25th, the Shanghai government urged all entertainment venues such as public libraries, museums, amusement parks, nightclubs, etc. to shut down temporarily. All enterprises (except food production, medical equipment, telecommunications, etc.) are expected to reopen no earlier than Feb 9th. 

http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/nw2/nw2314/nw32419/nw48516/nw48519/u21aw1423526.html

http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/nw2/nw2314/nw2319/nw12344/u26aw63451.html

尾注4: 在1月24日，上海宣布启动重大公共卫生事件一级响应措施。次日，上海市政府要求公共图书馆、博物馆、游艺娱乐场所、歌舞娱乐场所等文化旅游设施实行闭馆或停止开放。除食品生产、医疗器械、电子通讯等企业，其他各类企业不早于2月9日复工。

This article was originally published in English by Amy DeCillis on her personal blog. The original text has been edited. All images are from Amy’s original post. 

阅读英文原文请点击文末“阅读原文”。

Proofreader: Eliza
Editor: Carly, Maggie
Typesetting: Acker

Please share with us your experience of online or offline social interaction in the time of coronavirus by sending us a Wechat message or emailing us at [e-mail]

如果你想要分享疫情期间线上或线下的社交经历，请给我们微信后台留言，或者将你的经历发送至我们的邮箱[e-mail]

往期阅读 ▼

Contact Us | 联系我们

[e-mail]

Follow Us | 关注我们

Instagram: uncover.2020

Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/2020.unCoVer/

Website: https://uncoverinitiative.home.blog/