Chinese Culture During Lockdown 战“疫”封城下的中国文化 IV
"I read what seduces me, I write what perverts me. "
- Heather Cai -
---Mike Clark, Spring Festival of 2020 | 今年春节的麦克
Written by Mike Clark, this is a detailed account of what he knew and saw in Shenzhen during the lockdown of China. It will be posted every Monday 7am till the end.
Mike wants the world to know that China has done the best during lockdown. One of the reasons is the deeply rooted Chinese culture of the family unit seen as a group not as individuals.
This piece is based on observations made at the time and feedback from others within China. There's nothing subjective, but rather objective, and more purely factual, as seen by a westerner living in China.
It was reported, deemed in appropriate and deleted with its original title.
Put PLUGH at the start of your email title to avoid going to junk, if you like to contact Mike:
Mike-in-Shenzhen@outlook.com
感谢麦克·克拉克撰写和分享他就中国封城期间深圳疫情发生的所见所想，希望让世界看到战“疫”下的中国人民做得最好！本栏目于每周一早7点定时发布，直至结束。
---Chinese Swipe Left | 左滑中文---
Covid-19
Chinese Culture During Lockdown
By Mike Clark
June 16th, 2020
新冠病毒
战“疫”封城下的中国文化
麦克·克拉克
2020.6.16
Special Thanks to Holly, Jane and the Gang at Shenzhen Daily
特别感谢Holly、Jane以及《深圳日报》的伙伴们
Back to Life
The only shops to stay open were the supermarkets, fruit and vegetable shops and convenience stores, all armed with security staff and temperature guns. The supermarkets were well-stocked throughout.
I asked if I could go out for a walk and was told walking in public areas was not a problem so I walked on that day. In the pictures you can see:
The outside of Weipeng Gardens which is lined with shops – all closed.
Zhenzhong Lu looking towards KK Mall
Shangbu Zhong Lu – normally a very busy main road.
Huaqiangbei Lu – one of the very busiest shopping streets – Burger King open for takeaway!
Disinfecting Zhenhua Lu – I don’t know if it did any good, but almost certainly no harm. The street cleaners worked throughout, but with no people to make a mess struggled.
Zhenxing Lu – another normally busy road.
On February 9th, there was an announcement in the WeChat group that there was a suspected case in Block 6 of Weipeng Gardens – I am in Block 2 which faces Block 6, but 30 yards away. The next day they announced that the person had tested positive, and this forms the basis for one of my reasons for believing their numbers. There is an app which shows the location of each case as a little red dot. When I was first shown it, there were two red dots within a kilometer of me, neither in areas I had been to for at least a year. The base mapping is very detailed, showing the individual blocks within Weipeng. I checked the next day and there was a little red dot in Block 6 close to my little blue dot in Block 2.
There was another Daily Briefing mostly covering what the city was doing to help enterprises. It was announced that there were 13 new cases making 364 in total and that 1,153 contacts were under observation.
On the 10th of February SZDaily reported 4 new cases. Shenzhen probably felt they were getting on top of it and so a team was sent off to help in Hubei. The team consists of four doctors and nine nurses from five hospitals, covering major departments including intensive care, respiratory medicine, and infectious diseases and nursing. Meng Xinke, chief physician of the department of intensive care at the Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital, is the leader of the medical team. Meng participated in the fight against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003.
On the 11th SZDaily confirmed another 7 cases, and there was an article showing tent villages around the city, similar to the one in Weipeng, and stating that a personal QR code was required to enter your residence. If your Chinese was good enough you could get it online, but children, people without smartphones (are there any?) and idiot foreigners had to get a physical one.
The most interesting thing in the Daily Briefing on the 12th was a piece about the development of a new test, but I don’t think it is worth talking about. There were 11 new cases and people were going back to work in fairly small numbers, but at least it was a start. Buses had operated throughout, mostly without passengers, and the metro was having about 5% of its normal load.
Food During the Lockdown
From the 7th February onwards all of the restaurants were closed for dine-in. Many of them were open for take-away from a restricted hand-written menu, so I would have no idea what I was ordering. However, Burger King and Domino’s also did take-away so I alternated between them. I had more burgers and pizza than ever before in my life – at least it felt that way.
To get to either I had to walk past the square in front of Hualian Building. On the 12th of February I bought a couple of beers from 7/11 and sat on one of the benches, drank the beers and smoked a bit. It felt so good. The square is quite large and it was very rare to see anyone else there, so I didn’t feel too guilty. Then I repeated that most evenings.
On the 15th of February I went to the take-away counter of Home Taste restaurant and asked for the “cai dan (menu)” in my best Chinese. They pointed at the hand-written version, which I couldn’t read and nor could my phone. I gave them my best “kan budong (can’t read)”, and said “da de (big one)”. They know me quite well so they went and fetched it. Then I went through pointing at the dishes until I found one they had. That’s cold chicken and pickle.
Below is the picture of my lockdown fridge. I had bought a couple of tinned hams and had ham sandwiches for dinner one evening. My mistake was keeping a supply of chocolate digestive biscuits and crisps – I ate way too much. I also bought eggs, hard-boiled them and put those in the fridge. So all day I was snacking. I gained three kilograms. I’ve lost two of them but my waistline hasn’t recovered yet.
I was complaining about the monotony to a Chinese friend in Shanghai and she said “Why don’t you make one of your stews?”
“I have no Bisto. It was on my list to buy in Hong Kong”
A few minutes later she sent through pictures of more sorts of Bisto than I knew existed. “Which one?”
The next day, the 22nd it arrived (thanks Heather) and on the 23rd I was able to use my slow cooker to make beef and turnip stew. I got four good meals out of one pot, eaten on alternate days. On the same day I received more masks (thanks Shannon and Sandy) so I was well supplied.
Then, on the 1St of March, I was walking to the Aeon supermarket and I saw people eating inside a restaurant. It was not a restaurant I would usually go to, but I went up to the fourth floor and found that Green Tea was open too. That evening I set out for a good meal, but on the way I sneezed. I couldn’t go into a restaurant sneezing on its first day of opening, so I went back home. The next day I set out again and didn’t sneeze and had their potatoes and a lamb dish.
At first only restaurants in malls could open, but this was extended to all restaurants within a week. Also the tables were spaced by the staff to meet distancing requirements. However, they were immediately unspaced by the customers. The only restaurant I regularly go to that has not yet re-opened close by, is an Indian ten minutes walk away. I guess they travelled for Spring Festival and still cannot get back.
As far as PPE is concerned, I had enough masks to see me through to when they became available online in mid-March and then in pharmacies before the end of March. The only gloves I had were from Domino’s – medical quality? On the 10th of February my landlady sent me four bottles of alcohol (thank you, Mrs Ma). When I got back to the flat at any time I would first use the alcohol and then a good scrub with soap and water.
Some people had much more than me, like these two check-out staff at Aeon. They must have got it themselves because all the others just had masks and gloves.
On March 6th I had another chat with my daughter. I sent her:
”A very good day so far.
I confirmed with the authorities that the 60 day extension to the regular length of stay applied to me. So no visa run would be needed till May.
I drew cash using my Hong Kong bank card and paid it into my China bank. So I could continue to use my WeChat Wallet to pay for things, and wouldn’t have to handle cash.
I found a shop that sold small cans of shaving gel. They were three for the price of two, and I bought three.
The local supermarket has restocked Tsing Tao, so no need to haul it from WalMart.”
She came back with:
“I’m confused about the shaving gel. Have people been panic buying shaving gel?”
I explained:
“Most Chinese guys rarely shave. All the supermarkets sell foam, but I prefer gel. Chinese girls shave more often.”
禁闭期间的生活
唯一还开着的商铺就是超市、蔬果店、便利店，而且都有保安人员手持测温枪值守。超市全程货物充足。
我问他们是否能出去散步，他们说在公共场合散步不是什么问题，所以那天我就去散步了，下面是那天拍的照片：
1、 玮鹏花园小区外的沿街店铺——都关闭了。
2、 通向KK商场的郑州路。
3、 上步中路——平日里是非常热闹的主路。
4、 华强北路——非常热闹的商业街——汉堡王还开着，可以外带！
5、 正在消毒的郑花路——我不知道是不是有用，但肯定没坏处。道路清洁工全程都在工作，但却没有人去弄脏街道了。
6、 振兴路——也是一条平日里很热闹的街道。
2月9日，微信群里通知，玮鹏花园六单元出现1例疑似病例——我在二单元，对面就是六单元，距离大约30米。第二天，他们通知说该疑似病例已确诊，这也让我对他们发布的数字有了信任基础。有一个APP专门对每个病例的位置做了红点标记，我第一次看这个APP时，在我方圆1公里内有2个红点，其他我一年内去过的地方都还没有红点。这个地图很细致，连玮鹏花园里的每栋楼都能看见。第二天我又查看了一下，六单元标注了1个红点，距离我所在的二单元的蓝点非常近。
在最新通告里，深圳开始帮扶企业。当天新增了13例确诊病例，累计确诊364例，1153例密切接触者正在接受隔离观察。
2月10日，《深圳日报》发布4例新增确诊病例。深圳可能觉得已经掌控了疫情发展，便派送了一支医疗队伍去帮助湖北。该队伍有4名医生、9名护士，分别来自5家医院的主要部门，包括重症监护科、呼吸科、传染病和护理科等。深圳第二人民医院的重症监护科主任医师孟新科是这支医疗队伍的领队，他曾参与了2003年的SARS防治工作。
2月11日，深圳卫健委发布，2月10日深圳新增确诊7例，累计病例达到375例，现有重症病例12例，危症病例30例，56例治愈出院。截至目前没有死亡病例。
有篇文章里写道，整座城市里搭了很多帐篷区，和玮鹏花园里的一样，并说明进入住所都需要出示个人健康码。如果你中文好的话，就可以直接在线上获取健康码，但儿童以及没有手机的人（有吗？），还有我们这些外国白痴们就需要去办理纸质版的。
关于2月12日的最新通报里最值得一提的是检测试剂的进展：
2月10日，由深圳大学、深圳第三人民医院、深圳天深医疗器械有限公司联合开发的新冠病毒的化学发光抗体测试试剂，在深圳第三人民医院检测成功。与核酸检测不同的是，它是利用血清和血浆进行检测，并在22分钟内就能出诊断结果。由于血液样本采集方便，且正常血液样本里要么没有病毒，要么只含有少量病毒，这就大大减少了医疗工作者的感染几率，因而能减轻目前门诊诊疗的压力。据称这是全球首次研发出的试剂。
当天有11例新增确诊病例，部分人开始返工，但这至少是个开端。公交车全程都在正常运行，虽然大部分时候都没有乘客，地铁也只有平时5%的运载量。
禁闭期间的食物
2月7日开始，所有餐馆都关闭了堂食。很多餐馆都开放外带，但也只有临时手写的菜单上列出的一些限定菜品，所以我也不知道我点的是什么。但汉堡王和达美乐披萨还提供外带，我还有得选。这期间我吃的汉堡和披萨比我这辈子吃的都多——至少我觉得是这样。
这是我穿过华联大厦门前的广场时拍的。2月12日，我在7-11买了一打啤酒，坐在这个广场上的长椅上，喝着小酒抽着烟。感觉非常好。广场非常大，难得不见什么人，所以我也没有什么罪恶感。后来的很多个傍晚我都是这样度过的。
2月15日，我到一家餐馆的外带窗口，努力用我最好的中文点餐。他们指着手写菜单，我一个字也看不懂，连手机都识别不出来。我用中午对他们说“看不懂”，然后说“big menu（大菜单）”，他们认识我，所以就去拿了菜单过来。然后我开始一个个指菜单里的菜品，直到找到他们现在有的菜品——白切鸡。
下面的照片是我的封闭期间的冰箱。我买了一些罐头火腿，有一天晚餐吃了火腿三明治。我不该一直买巧克力消化饼干和薯片——吃的太多了。我还买了鸡蛋，水煮后放在冰箱里。我每天都在吃零食，长胖了3公斤。现在我减掉了2公斤了，但我的腰围还没有减回来。
我向一个上海的朋友抱怨饮食太单调，她说：“你怎么不试着自己烧菜呢？”
“可我没有BISTO佐料，本来我是要去香港买的。”
几分钟后，她发给我好多BISTO照片，比我知道的都多，问道：“要哪个？”
第二天，也就是2月22日，我收到了BISTO（谢谢Heather）。23日，我能用我的炖锅做牛肉炖萝卜了。这一个锅让我吃上了四顿好饭，隔天烧一次。那天我还收到了口罩（谢谢Shannon和Sandy），所以我的物资供应非常充足。
到了3月1日，我走到Aeon超市，看到有人在餐馆里吃饭。这不是我经常会去的餐馆，但当我走到4楼的时候，我看到Green Tea也开了。当天晚上，我出门准备去好好搓一顿，但在去的路上我打了个喷嚏。我可不能在餐馆营业第一天就进去打个喷嚏，所以我就回去了。第二天我又出门了，这次我没有打喷嚏，所以我如愿吃到了他们的土豆炖羊肉。
一开始只有商场里的餐厅能营业，但不出一周，所有餐厅都营业了。餐桌被服务员布置得很宽敞，以达到防范距离的要求。但是，很快顾客就让餐厅不那么宽敞了。我常去的一家餐馆还没有开，那是一家印度菜餐厅，距离我家十分钟脚程，我猜可能是他们春节返乡还没能回来。
至于个人防护，我的口罩足够让我撑到了3月中旬口罩恢复网上供应，3月末药房也开始有口罩卖了。我唯一的手套还是来自达美乐——能达到医疗防护质量吗？2月10日我的房东给我送了4瓶酒精（谢谢马女士）。此后我每次回到公寓都会先用酒精消毒，然后清水和肥皂擦洗。
有的人防护更甚，比如像这两位Aeon超市结算台的员工，他们必须这样武装自己，因为其他人只是戴了口罩和手套。
3月6日，我又和女儿聊了一次。我给她发消息：
“今天还不错。
我的签证停留期限确认了延长60天，所以我可以待到5月份。
我从香港的银行卡里取了点现金存到了中国银行，所以我也可以继续用微信支付买东西，不用接触现金了。
我找到一家售卖剃须啫喱的商店。都是买二送一，所以我买了三个。
小区超市又进了青岛啤酒，也不用去沃尔玛囤货了。”
她回道：
“剃须啫喱是什么情况，大家都在抢购吗？”
我解释道：
“大部分中国男人都很少剃须，所有超市都卖剃须泡沫，但我更喜欢啫喱，中国的女孩子倒是更喜欢剃须。”
- To Be Continued 待续 -
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Heather is the daughter of a subsistence rice farmer from Fujian Province, China. She tells stories from her experience as one of the poorest. She writes her dream to share with the world, a very personal place. She has now written two English literary novels and is looking to being published in the UK. Her passion is a splendid cocktail or milkshake of word, image, music and art. She likes collecting books, DVDs, papers, stones, shells and leaves. She desires for all forms of natural beauty. She is currently working for Shanghai Taichi Center.
希瑟·蔡太莲是福建一个自给自足稻农的女儿。她作为穷人的穷人之一，讲述的故事来自最底层的仰望。她写就她的梦想与世界分享一些个人独特的亲身经历。她完成了两本英文文学小说，喜欢收集树叶、书本、影碟、贝壳和剪报，向往各种自然美。目前在上海从事太极文化行业，也在努力打造“阿太的密室”，集文学、艺术、文化、哲学和世界女性于一体的个人公共服务平台。
Copyright © 2019-2020 Heather Cai. All Rights Reserved. 所有版权归作者蔡太莲所有