VEENENDAAL – On the 18th floor of a tower block in Shanghai, the Veenendaal couple Julia and Willem Ladiges will be in quarantine from next Friday. Part of the Chinese city is already in lockdown. The Puxi district, where Julia and Willem live, will be added on Friday. The Veenendalers remain cheerful: “You can ask a thousand questions, but you will not get answers. You just have to see what happens.”
Puxi is the old city center of Shanghai, but don’t expect a historic city center, says Willem. “It is a big skyscraper gang here. It is the original center and the entire province of Utrecht has been built around it.”
The policy cannot be sustained with omikron
Julie Ladiges has been working as an expat in China’s largest city for about six months now. Willem followed her in January. He had to be quarantined for the first month. “Since then it’s been looking for houses, moving and doing nonsense things. I’m only now starting to look around a bit, a kind of holiday. Tomorrow I have my first job interview.”
China is trying to limit the number of infections to zero and is therefore pursuing a strict corona policy. “Now with omikron, that is almost impossible to maintain,” says Willem.
In contrast to the Netherlands, the measures in China are followed by almost everyone. But even in obedient China, citizens are starting to stir. Julia: “You also notice that a bit on the online platforms, such as WeChat. There you see people speaking openly: how long can you keep this up? What are we doing?.” Willem: “It is a very successful policy, which is funny.”
Preparations
The refrigerator, freezer and cupboards are full of water, rice and other non-perishable products. The mental challenge is greater. The announced lockdown will last four days for the time being, but that could change soon. “You just have to see what happens,” Julia says.
Willem says he is enjoying himself at home. Movie, just behind the game computer. “Chinese lesson!” Julia adds. Staying in shape physically is also a challenge. “You can’t go down and up the stairs anymore. So now it’s yoga classes online, fitness. You have to keep moving.”
The Chinese are more concerned with the “greater good”, the general interest. That means that the community is more important than the individual, says Julia. “The measures are being followed closely, everyone takes it very seriously.” So no corona protests, or people who do not follow the rules. Willem: “Refreshing.”
The Veenendalers do not notice that the Chinese would receive foreigners less enthusiastically for fear of contamination. “They are actually very helpful,” says Willem. For example, they are helped by neighbors during the mandatory corona tests that go from building to building. “That goes hand and foot, long live the translation app.”