As Vicky Liu prepared to return to China to celebrate Lunar New Year with her family for the first time in more than three years, she wondered how much had changed.
“The answer is a lot,” Liu, a 25-year-old graduate student in the United States who hails from Qingdao in northeast China, told Al Jazeera.
During this time, two of her grandparents had died, two cousins had married, and a third cousin had given birth. Liu’s parents had also bought a new house, her long-distance partner had moved to Shanghai from Qingdao, and her family’s dog, Qiqi, had died.
Liu had not been present at any of this.
She left China in August 2019, a few months before the first cases of COVID-19 began to appear in downtown Wuhan.
After claiming success in stamping out that first outbreak, most people in China expected measures to contain the virus, including strict lockdowns, mass testing and closed borders with weeks of centralized quarantines for the few international arrivals, to be temporary.
People in China can celebrate the Lunar New Year freely for the first time in three years. Millions travel to their hometowns for family vacations [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]
Instead, the restrictions became part of President Xi Jinping’s signature zero-COVID strategy, which was abandoned just last month as it slowed economic growth and thousands took to the streets frustrated at the limits of their lives.
Liu never thought she would have to say goodbye to loved ones and attend their funerals through video calls in 12 time zones, but with China all but cut off, she did just that. One day in late 2021, she woke up at 3 a.m. to say a final goodbye to her grandfather via her mother’s smartphone. She had to do the same for her grandmother a few months later.
When China dropped nearly all anti-pandemic measures in a series of unfathomably abrupt policy changes in a matter of weeks in December, Liu and the thousands others locked out of their homeland jumped at the chance to return.
“Of course that’s a joke,” she giggled over the phone as she made her final touchdown in Beijing before boarding a train bound for Qingdao. “But I can’t believe I can actually go back to China in my lifetime.”
Missing Milestones
Liu is not alone in her joy at finally being able to hug friends and family back home in China. For many of the estimated 10 million Chinese living abroad, this lunar new year – the Year of the Rabbit – will be the first time they see their homes and families in years.
Some, like Liu, have had to live with the crushing pain of not seeing loved ones before they died, while others have missed key moments like the birth of a child.
Jason Jiang left his hometown in Jiangsu province to open a Chinese restaurant in Cape Town in late 2019.
The 31-year-old had planned to return in 2020 when his wife gave birth to a baby boy, but to his dismay, the cost of a one-way plane ticket skyrocketed to over $15,000 – more than what he would make in months. Worse, because he recently recovered from COVID, he was banned from entering China under Beijing’s strict entry requirements for those who had the virus.
“My wife told me it was fine, but deep down I knew it wasn’t,” said Jiang, who was only able to see his now two-year-old son through video calls on WeChat, the Chinese news outlet Al Jazeera.
Until the rules were abruptly changed in December, people in China faced a number of restrictions on their everyday lives and had to undergo mass testing [File: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo]
Once the restrictions were lifted, he booked his ticket.
On January 11, he landed at Nanjing Airport. Jiang’s wife and son were waiting for him as he exited the arrivals hall.
For the first time in his life, Jiang personally heard from his son the two words he had longed for: “Baba” (father)! Tears streamed down his face.
Jiang was soon reminded of everything he had missed. He had no idea which color his son liked best, nor did he know which lullaby would soothe him.
“I know these things are small,” he said. “But they carry so much weight and not being able to be here for the last two years to see that is really painful.”
Reunited with his family and just days until the Lunar New Year, Jiang says his trip home was “the best thing that has happened to him in years.”
Three year nightmare
Even in China itself, people are looking forward to seeing loved ones again after being told to celebrate the New Year “where they are” over the past two years because of COVID-19.
This year, as the government abandons its “virus eradication” campaign, billions of trips are expected to take place as part of the New Year’s travel rush – arguably the largest annual human migration on Earth. For many, the reunion carries an undertone of post-apocalyptic joy, as a large portion of the population has already contracted and recovered from the virus.
Cui Xia, a migrant worker in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, is returning home for the first time in two years to join her family for the traditional Lunar New Year’s Eve reunion dinner.
“My parents are almost 70 years old and it’s so nice to see them this year after the fear of COVID has disappeared,” Cui, from southwestern Guizhou province, told Al Jazeera.
Cui, her husband and both of her parents have recently recovered from COVID-19.
“We’re going to set off fireworks and cook a big meal to say goodbye to this crazy year gone by,” she said excitedly.
But amid the relief and excitement, public health experts are warning of the risk of a surge in coronavirus infections in rural areas as people travel from cities to their hometowns and villages. Underdeveloped and understaffed medical facilities in rural areas are bracing for another wave of deaths.
Earlier this month, authorities said about 60,000 people had died from COVID-19 since restrictions were lifted in early December, and many believe the number is likely far higher.
For Chinese, the restrictions may be gone, but the coronavirus is still haunting their lives.
“The last three years have felt like a nightmare and this might have been over but who knows? At least COVID isn’t over yet,” Liu said.