Lockdown Begins

March 18, 2022 to March 23, 2022

6 Days Was Just the Beginning

Our little game of survivor was bound to end. We received notice that our compound, along with many others, would be targeted for 48hr lockdown and testing. The 'good news' though is the compound managers gave plenty of notice about it and time to prepare. The gates would close at midnight Thursday.

A sketch map of the compound. Refer to this for orientation purposes. About 100 meters by 150 meters

Day 1: Friday March 18. (0 km biking)

It wouldn't be an official lockdown, just a semi-lockdown. Our sub-district wasn't designated as a 'key area' so no 48 hr lockdown. But to play it safe, the compound we live in was still doing one round of mass nucleic testing. I saw no evidence that the gates were sealed off like most places and they didn't say we couldn't leave. They just encouraged us to stay in the compound until the negative results came back. So it seems we got off easy.

Day 2: Saturday March 19: (1.2 km biking)

We were free right? I went outside to get some intel on the gates and found everything wide open. Hooray!! But I didn't leave the compound. There was some cooking I needed to do and housekeeping, all in a very good mood while my wife got some well-deserved rest. We were both super stressed with all this lockdown stuff and the rapidly evolving situation that emotional reserves were running low.

Just while we were about to tuck into a delicious meal, a dreaded loudspeaker-type announcement said that starting 2pm our compound would be going into 48 hours lockdown. While our first covid test results had all been negative, a compound somewhere in our sub-district had reported 5 asymptomatic cases. The loudspeaker basically said, in Chinese of course "We're locking down at 2pm, go outside now and buy your vegetables". How sweet and kind of them to say so, it was already 12:30

There was no time to eat my delicious cooking, there was only time to run. This was going to present a massive problem because due to an earlier surgery, I needed to visit the doctor on Sunday to remove some stitches. If the stitches stayed in too long, the wound would become infected. I tried to reschedule the appointment frantically.

Next my wife asked the 'neighborhood committee', i.e. the compound boss if we could leave the gates on Sunday and see the doctor. That request was met with a firm headshake. Nope. The gravity of the situation became apparent. You could be in a serious health condition and be unable to receive medical treatment due to these lockdowns. The cost of zero covid and the human suffering in trying to stop Omicron was beginning to paint a very grim picture.

Needless to say I was infuriated but I knew how to remain calm in a crisis. There is always a solution. In this case I contacted my doctor directly and he arranged a special trip to the hospital at 3pm that very day. So we left the gates at 1:30pm just as they were putting up police tape to block off the compound.

All blocked off half an hour early. We couldn't have timed this 'escape' any better.

The visit to the doctor was an unprecedented success and he totally understood what was going on. We both agreed it doesn't matter how long you've lived in China, these situations are crazy and unpredictable.

There was now time to do more stocking up on food and back into the compound for covid testing. After testing, then what? Nothing really. I tried to put a positive spin on things by going for short bike rides around the compound.

Make no mistake about it, this was going to be a psychological game going forward. I started out by naming alleys in the compound (as you can see from the picture) and trying to mentally shut down the world outside the compound. It would be hard, but I wanted to avoid looking at the exit gates as much as possible, and so I set a rule that I wouldn't bike more than 10 meters away from them.

With this idea, I was captivated by the beauty of the tall building adjacent to the compound

This is from the adjacent compound with the rents up to 5 times those of our lane house

I made a few laps up and down this main road and then turned left onto Testing Alley to find, lo and behold, the testing site that I dared not take pictures of earlier.

Next a few more laps down Serpentine Road and while rounding the corner I was able to catch out of my eye the contrast between our lane house and the city skyline directly outside.

After a few more laps of this I happened to see an alley directly across that I had never seen before in this compound. Not wanting to enter right away, I gave it a name (Secret Alley), then kept doing more laps on the main road. Eventually I swung around north again for a final lap and turned right onto Secret Alley.

Once into the alley, what flanked the left side were high buildings, not lane houses. I didn't know these were part of the same compound. I did two or three laps back and forth then happened upon an open door leading downwards into some passage. Intrigued, I biked in and found this: an underground parking lot for bikes.

It sure would have been nice to know about this earlier because the cover provided protection from the rain. For all these months my bike was getting soaked right next to my house. But you learn things, and so this became the new parking spot. Not wanting to end the "tour" just yet, I did a few more laps around with the goal to head back into Secret Alley and park the bike.

This is a private kindergarten built into our compound. The phrase is very appropriately named. Covid is going to end, we'll see the world very soon.

Ok so I broke my own rule. Enough with these silly games, we all know that being locked down in a compound sucks.

Day 3: Sunday March 20: (0.8 km)

It was raining heavily outside. Who would want to go out anyway. Nothing much was accomplished all day except for the highlight of ordering takeout and then doing a few laps around the compound on the bike. I ended up at the main gate to pick up the food.

The second test results came back negative and then they woke us up from a nap with the bullhorn that I would soon learn to hate. "Come outside for the third round of testing." We stood in the rain for ages in the queue and it reminded me of boy scout camp.

By now it would seem impossible for anyone in our compound to test positive for covid on round #3 if they tested negative twice already. Or so you'd think.

Day 4: Monday March 21: (1.0 km)

There was an announcement on that dreaded bullhorn again waking us up. A vegetable market nearby had reported an asymptomatic case. In short, this turned into the worst possible scenario. We resigned the fact that it would be another two days of lockdowns and testing.

Sadly when Omicron first came out four months ago in South Africa, the common response in China was "I haven't thought that far ahead" when asked what would happen if the virus came here. Maybe it's time to think ahead, geniuses.

So it was back on the bike and doing more laps around the compound. But hey you gotta look on the bright side right? A colleague in another compound can't even leave her house.

Sadly, this was just the beginning of an exponential rise

Day 5: Tuesday March 22. (3.0 km)

It was time to go full blown loco. Two years ago in Wuhan there was a guy stuck in his apartment for over 40 days during that infamous lockdown. To put into perspective, being trapped inside a compound is nothing compared to that. This guy essentially ran a marathon in his apartment. He set up a track in his living room and ran in circles over, and over, and over, and over again.

Inspired, I tried the same with my bike in the compound. I managed 3 km of this before calling it quits. How this guy ever did a marathon in his apartment is beyond me.

Day 6: Wednesday March 23 (2.0 km)

In prison you earn your rights. Some people in the compound had earned this sort of entry/exit pass they were using to walk through the gates by flashing it to the guard. Apparently there was an announcement made about it (on that loudspeaker of course) that I missed while teaching classes online. My wife said we were eligible, but for whatever reason there was no pass yet. Guess that meant more laps of biking up and down Serpentine Road. I was going to get sick of this really fast.

Didn't even know this was part of the compound. Literally behind where I live, about 20 meters

Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 5 km (3 miles)

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Andrea BrownThank you, Steve, for updating the situation there. It's really something to get an insider's view.
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2 years ago